Fleet Owners Registration
Under new legislation set out in the recently enacted Road Traffic and Roads Act, fleet owners and motor traders are required to upload their vehicle details to the National Fleet Database (NFD) by 30th November.
Road vehicles that use flexible, fleet-style insurance policies that can be transferred within a specific fleet from one vehicle to another, account for 8% of vehicles on Irish roads and must upload their registrations to the National Fleet Database. Privately owned vehicles are unaffected by the new legislation. Flexible policies are typically used by garages and motor traders that sell vehicles as well as fleets of lorries, buses, coaches, taxis, construction vehicles, hires cars, delivery vans, utility vehicles, transport and logistics providers, service vehicles, and vehicles operated by retailers, services providers, and semi-state operations. Once motor traders or the fleet owners are registered, they must download a spreadsheet template from their database to their computers. Once you download the template, you can add your vehicle registration details and then upload the completed version to the National Fleet Database.
The National Fleet Database was launched in 2022 to enable the collection of this information. Currently, details for over 62,000 fleet vehicles have been uploaded to the database which is around 25% of the estimated 250,000 vehicles covered by fleet and motor trade insurance policies operating in Ireland. The vehicle data will be combined with the same information for private vehicles and used by Gardaí to identify vehicles which are being driven illegally without insurance. Figures from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) show that Ireland had the second-highest level of uninsured driving in the EU in 2021, and the number rose to 1 in every 12 vehicles using Irish roads in 2022. Fleet owners and motor traders who do not fulfil their legal obligation to upload their vehicle registrations by 30th November may face legal sanctions, including fines and potential prosecution.
David Fitzgerald, CEO of MIBI had this to say on the matter; “We would encourage all fleet owners, motor traders or anyone with fleet style, flexible, motor insurance policies to upload their vehicle registration details to the NFD as soon as possible,”
“The use of the fleet vehicle details from the NFD is essential in the battle against uninsured driving. Uninsured driving is a problem in this country, with Ireland’s level being possibly the worst in the EU. Approximately one in every 12 vehicles on our roads didn’t have insurance last year. This is not only against the law, but it also makes our roads more dangerous.”
“The vehicle information on the NFD will be combined with the same information for private vehicles, completing the entire picture of which vehicles have valid motor insurance in Ireland. This will create a comprehensive and sophisticated law enforcement tool for the Gardaí to easily identify any vehicle being driven illegally without insurance simply by scanning its licence plate.
“By uploading their vehicle registration information to the NFD by 30th November not only will fleet managers and motor traders be fulfilling their legal obligations, but they will also be helping to make Irish roads safer,” Fitzgerald concluded.
Karen Moloney, Executive, Ibec Networks
