Additional items on or in the vehicle. The own damage’ section of a comprehensive car policy covers accessories while in or on the car or in the insured’s private garage. In the case of goods-carrying vehicles the accessories have to be on the vehicle.

Roadside recovery assistance. The insured chooses either breakdown relating to his vehicle on an any driver basis, or relating to himself on an any vehicle basis as a driver or passenger. He also chooses a level of cover.

A committee that mirrors the Lloyd’s Motor Underwriters’ Association. Their combined dialogue is called the Motor Conference.

Insurance of motor vehicles and liabilities arising from the use of vehicles. Comprehensive policies cover loss/damage to the insured’s vehicle, liability to third parties and other sections depending on the type of vehicle. Third party fire and theft covers third party risks plus loss/damage to the insured’s vehicle if caused by fire and theft. Third party only is limited to third party risks only. Act only cover is less extensive than third party only as cover is limited to the compulsory insurance requirements of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Most policy forms have a foreign use section. The principal vehicle types are: private cars; commercial or goods-carrying vehicles; agricultural and forestry vehicles; motor trade; motorcycles, mopeds; and special types (e.g. mobile plant).

Proof of insurance in accordance with the Road Traffic Act 1988 in the form required by law. The certificate must be delivered to the insured party otherwise, for Act purposes, the insurance is not effective (s.147(1)). When cover is cancelled the certificate must be returned to the insurer within seven days or a lost certificate declaration completed.

Set up to combat uninsured driving. Contains information about registered vehicles, policyholder and insurance details. Mandatory data for privately insured vehicles is supplied by insurers. Fleet owners and motor traders must also supply details. MID links with the Police National Computer helping fast identification of uninsured drivers and assists fraud enquiries. MID is managed by Experian for the Motor Insurers’ Information Centre.

Wholly owned subsidiary of the Motor Insurers’ Bureau that tackles the crime of uninsured driving. MIIC has created the Motor Insurance Database – the platform for achieving its objective. This database also enables the MIIC to fulfil the role of national information centre as required by the Fourth EU Motor Insurance Directive to make cross-border claims less onerous. (Visit www.miic.org.uk).

ABI-based computerised log of all total loss and theft of vehicle claims. Insurance companies and Lloyd’s participate in the scheme, which assists in tracing and recovering vehicles. MIAFTR links directly with DVLA facilitating loss history checks by the public. It also checks vehicles against hire purchase information to ascertain if the insured still has a debt.

Private company established to enter into Agreements with the government to compensate the victims of negligent uninsured and untraced motorists. Every insurer underwriting compulsory motor insurance is obliged to become a member and contribute to the funding. The UK Guarantee Fund compensates victims of the motorists concerned when there is no other source of compensation. MIB also acts as the UK Green Card Bureau to ensure that the system operates satisfactorily in the UK. See UNINSURED DRIVERS AGREEMENT; UNTRACED DRIVERS AGREEMENT.