An uninsured or untraced driver: claiming through the MIBI

Who the MIBI is

The Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (the MIBI, see the glossary) is a body set up by the motor insurers under an agreement with the Minister for Transport. The current agreement is the MIBI Agreement 2009. Under it, the MIBI meets the damages awarded against a driver who had no insurance, and it also answers claims where the driver was never identified: the vehicle that did not stop.

The MIBI is not an insurer you hold a policy with, and it is not the State. It is funded by the motor insurers, which is why the Agreement puts conditions on the claims it accepts. Those conditions are what this guide is about. The MIBI's own site carries the Agreement and the form.

First, find out whether the driver was insured

Not every driver who says they have no insurance is uninsured, and not every driver who gives a policy number is insured. Before anything goes to the MIBI, the insurance position needs to be checked.

• If you have the registration, your own insurer can usually check it, and the Gardaí will have recorded the insurance details at the scene or when the collision was reported.
• The Board's FAQ for claimants says to establish the other driver's insurance position first, because the respondent you name on the application depends on it: the driver and their insurer in the ordinary case, the MIBI where there is none.
• Where the position is unclear, notifying the MIBI as well as the driver costs nothing and keeps the claim inside the Agreement's conditions.

The Garda report

Section 106 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 puts a duty on every driver involved in a collision to stop, give their details and, where no Garda is present, report it to a Garda as soon as possible. For an MIBI claim the report matters more than usual. The MIBI expects a Garda report of the collision within two days where that is possible. That is what the MIBI expects, to be read against the Agreement: the Agreement's own conditions are what bind, and a later report with a good reason is a matter for argument rather than an automatic bar. A report made at once is the safer course.

Ask for the station, the name of the Garda and the incident reference. The Garda report guide covers how to get the abstract later.

For an untraced driver the report is close to the whole case. Note the time, the place, the direction of travel, anything you remember of the vehicle (colour, make, part of a registration), and any witness. CCTV from nearby premises is often overwritten within days or weeks, so ask early and in writing.

The Claim Notification Form

The MIBI's Claim Notification Form is sent by email or by registered post to the MIBI. It asks for the date, time and place of the collision, the vehicle and driver details you have, the Garda station and reference, your injuries and your own insurance details.

Sending it does not start a claim in the sense the Board uses the word. It tells the MIBI that a claim is coming and gives it the chance to investigate while the trail is fresh. The Agreement makes notification a condition, so keep proof of sending: the email with its date, or the registered post receipt.

The Board's process still applies

A claim against the MIBI is still a personal injury claim, and section 12 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 as amended still applies: the claim goes to the Injuries Resolution Board before any court. The MIBI is named as a respondent, with the driver where the driver is known. The application fee (€45 online, €90 by post), the Medical Assessment Form (Form B) from your treating doctor and the identity document are the same as for any other claim. The application guide walks through them.

From there the steps are the Board's usual ones: the Formal Notice to the MIBI, its 90 days to consent, the assessment within 9 months of consent, the Notice of Assessment and your 28 days to accept. The Board's making a claim page sets them out, and the Board, start to finish explains each step.

The clock

The two-year limit under section 3 of the Statute of Limitations (Amendment) Act 1991 runs from the collision, or from a later date of knowledge. Section 50 of the 2003 Act disregards the time from a signed Board application until six months after an Authorisation, for the respondents named in it. Naming the MIBI on the application matters for that reason: the pause protects the claim only against the respondents it names. The time-limit guide and the guide to the pause cover the detail, and the time-limit checker does the dates.

Section 8 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 asks for a written notice stating the nature of the wrong within one month of the cause of action, served on the wrongdoer or alleged wrongdoer. Where the driver is known, it goes to the driver, with a copy to the MIBI. Where the driver is untraced, the MIBI is the only address you have, and the Claim Notification Form does much of the same work. Serving the notice late without reasonable cause lets a court draw inferences and make no order for your costs, or cut them. The one-month letter guide explains it.

Passengers in an uninsured car

The Agreement treats a passenger differently where the passenger knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that the vehicle was uninsured, and where the passenger knew the vehicle had been taken without the owner's consent. Whether either applies turns on what the passenger knew, which is a question of fact, and the MIBI will ask it. A solicitor would weigh this before the application is made. The passengers guide covers the ordinary case.

What the MIBI pays

The same heads of damage as any other motor claim: general damages, which the Board and the courts assess with regard to the Personal Injuries Guidelines, and vouched special damages such as loss of earnings and expenses. The Board's median motor award for July to December 2025 was €12,850, from €12,510 a year earlier, the Board's own figure as reported on the figures register. Nothing in that figure is a figure for any one claim; the whiplash guide explains what the Guidelines' brackets look like for the commonest motor injury.

Damage to your own vehicle or property is dealt with under the Agreement on its own terms, with conditions and an excess that the MIBI's site sets out. It is a separate matter from the injury claim.

What the MIBI will ask of you

The MIBI investigates. Expect to be asked for the Garda reference, your own policy details, your account of the collision, your medical records and, for an untraced driver, anything that bears on whether the vehicle existed and was never identified. Answering fully and exactly is the whole of what is asked. The MIBI may also ask you to attend a medical examination, as the Board may.

Where the driver is known and uninsured, the MIBI may pursue that driver afterwards for what it pays. That is between the MIBI and the driver and does not change your claim.

Where this leaves you

The one-month notice is the first written step, whoever ends up answering the claim. The letter builder drafts it from the facts you give it, for the driver where known and for the MIBI, and reminds you what the Claim Notification Form needs beside it.