[geeks] Insurance (was [rescue] Current collections)

[Phil Stracchino]

On Fri, Apr 09, 2004 at 10:24:25AM -0400, Kevin wrote:
> I would not mind it at all if they sent me a questionnaire via
> mail to fill out and i could check that the car is not operable. 
> 
> If they did that, every uninsured smuck in Miami who gets the
> "your license will be suspended unless you either get insurance,
> hand in the tag or check this box" would just check the car not
> operable box and we would get no where.  I don't profess to have
> all the answers here but i do know what doesn't work, and that's
> their current system.

This is a mostly solved (and fully solvable) problem.  In California,
you file a certificate of non-operation with the DMV instead of
*registering* your car.  You must have proof of insurance to register
the vehicle.  If you file a non-operation, you cannot register the
vehicle until your next renewal period, and if you drive it with the
registration expired, you will (at least in theory) get stopped and
cited.

"But wait," you say, "what about people who get insurance, register the
car, then immediately cancel the insurance?" And this is a real problem,
but this is the "solvable" part (in fact, I'm not certain whether CA
hasn't already done at least part of this).  Simply require that
automobile insurance companies notify the DMV whenever you purchase or
cancel a vehicle insurance policy, or they cancel your insurance, and
the vehicle to which the policy applies.  (Require notices of
involuntary cancellation of coverage to be sent via certified mail with
proof of delivery, to protect insurance consumers.)

If you or your insurance company cancels the insurance on a vehicle, and
the DMV does not receive notice within the next seven days that you have
secured new insurance for that vehicle, DMV revokes your registration
and places your license plates on a "revoked list".  You can get off the
revoked list immediately at any time by purchasing new insurance for the
vehicle.  If you are seen by police operating a vehicle whose plates are
on the revoked list, and you cannot show proof of insurance (hey, errors
happen), or demonstrate an extenuating circumstance (such as a medical
emergency), you are subject to immediate arrest for fraudulent
registration and operating an uninsured vehicle, and your vehicle is
impounded on the spot.  

Do it properly and actually ENFORCE it, and it will end the problem of
uninsured drivers.  Forbid any insurance company in your state to issue
a policy for less than a reasonable statutory minimum coverage, and you
pretty much put an end to underinsired motorists too.


Sure, it's subject to legislative abuse.  But hell, today, BREATHING is
subject to legislative abuse.



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