Complaint Review: California DMV

I am going through something similar with California DMV

Back in may I moved to NC from CA.

I had two cars on one insurance policy. I was told by my insurance company that at renewal time the one car still in California could not be renewed, until it was in my possession.

I had to have a new policy written to reflect that.

Apparently, when you move the insurance company only sends information to the new address/home state DMV and since none of the DMVs communicate....well you guessed it.

   I got a letter stating their intent to cancel my registration.

On a different note:

Do you realize that CA DMV does not prorate your registration?

Ann

Again my comments are my own and I am not speaking on behalf of the state of California or the Department of Motor Vehicles. 

After over twenty five years experience in the P&C insurance industry and another eight years with DMV I am quite confidant that i have a better understanding of automobile policies than the average Joe.  I also know that when a customer doesn't fully understand the process they refuse to believe that they bear any responsibility in the event that they are complaining about.

If you ask yourself the following questions and answer them honestly you may understand my previous post.

Did you have an automobile policy that actually showed that your vehicle was garaged in California?

Were you insured by an insurance company that electronically verified the coverage as required by the State of California?

If you are required to register a vehicle in California don't you think it stands to reason that you would have to obtain auto coverage in that state also? I never said that I believe that the vehicles with out of state plates are just "visiting the state", Way too many of them are being driven by people who have moved to the state and ignoring the laws that require them to register in California.

Finally I find it amusing that you believe you have greater knowledge on this subject than someone who deals with it on a daily basis.  

I am responding to the DMV employee who apparently doesn't know he or she is talking about.  First, you don't know as much as you think you do about insurance.   Second, it is a good thing that you are not speaking for the DMV, because accusing someone of insurance fraud might make you (and the DMV) liable for slander.   It is not insurance fraud to have insurance issued while you are in another state. Many car insurance policies are written for a year of coverage, so people often move while maintaining a current policy.  I notified the insurance company that the vehicle was in California shortly after my mother passed away  and they said it was not necessary to issue a new policy.  The policy was fully paid for the year.  There is no requirement in California law that you have to purchase a new insurance policy when you move to California, you simply need to maintain insurance.

I was asked to provide proof of insurance at the time of registration and did so.  Your comments regarding that are simply wrong.  However, the DMV apparently cannot verify insurance through their automated system when the policy wasn't assigned a California designation when issued, which is why they requested verification.  However, they did not allow sufficient time to mail the verification before suspending the insurance.  I responded to the first letter that I received, although I don't recall how many days it took for me to receive the letter, dig up the policy, copy it, and mail it back to the DMV.  Not to mention the amount of time for the DMV to process the paper.  Nevertheless, they acknowledged receiving the insurance verification that showed that the insurance policy was in effect for the entire time the car was in California and there was no break in insurance coverage.  There is no excuse for their charging a $14.00 fee for reinstating the registration when there was never cause to suspend it in the first place.

I understand that the DMV wants to verify that people do not register their vehicle and then cancel their insurance.  However, they should not be penalizing innocent people who maintained their insurance.  The DMV is not usually so unreasonable.  It should be their policy to automatically waive the reinstatement fee when innocent individuals prove there was no lapse in coverage.  They have already been burdened with having to submit duplicate insurance information to assist the DMV in catching the bad guys who cancel their insurance.  Also, the DMV needs to provide more time for people to mail in insurance information, and modify their website so the information can be scanned in to the DMV.

Finally, you are a really naive DMV worker if you really think all of those out of state license plates are people visiting California.

Though I work for DMV I am not responding on behalf of the Department.  Hopefully you will have a better understanding of the process after reading this post.  My comments are strictly my own. 

When you apply for registration and/or title for a vehicle in the state of California you are NOT required to show the proof of insurance to obtain the plates and stickers. Field office employees do not have the ability to document the insurance information when keying the original transaction.

Once the record is completed you are required to obtain and maintain insurance coverage that meets the minimum coverages required by the state of California. If the vehicle is garaged in California, registered in California and being used in California then you are required to obtain coverage from an insurance carrier that is licensed to do business in California.  Any responsible insurance agent will tell you that continuing a policy that is based in Washington for a vehicle that is registered, titled and located in another state is financially irresponsible. Any claim could be denied and you could possibly be prosecuted for insurance fraud by the Dept of Insurance.

Do you honestly think that DMV randomly suspends registrations to collect a piddly $14? At least two letters are sent before the $14 fee is assessed. The letter clearly states that you must provide proof of insurance AND your insurance carrier must confirm your insurance coverage before the suspension date. I suspect that you were trying to save money by continuing the coverage in Washington.  The $14 fee is due because your insurance carrier didn't confirm your coverage.

By continuing the Washington policy you were committing insurance fraud. And that is not the actions of a "good citizen".  You see a lot of out of state plates because California has a lot of visitors from other states.  We also have a lot of people who believe that they are above the law and fail to register the vehicles when they are supposed to.

Finally "Robert" isn't an idiot any more than you are.  The information he provided in his response was accurate.  Personally I wish that consumers that move to California but don't feel they should abide by our laws because they don't agree with them would move back to the state they migrated from.  

I spoke with the DMV today and apparently even though I had provided the insurance information, because the policy was issued in Washington, it doesn't show up on their automated system when they do periodic checks.  Once I provided them the info showing again that it was insured, they should have waived the fee. This was apparently their attempt to find people who cancel their insurance after registration.

Robert, just because something doesn't happen to you, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.   Some people actually buy their insurance for a full year.  This policy was purchased and never cancelled and is in effect until August 2014.  Apparently California's verification system works only for policies issued in California.  That has not been a problem for me becuase I live in California and insure my cars here.  However, this was my mother's car and she lived in Washington.  We transferred title to California because she died last year, and her estate is being probated here.  However we notified the insurance company and since the policy was paid in full there was no need to change it.

Robert, why do you feel the need to defend the DMV when they don't?

 In the last couple of decades do you know how many times I have had to send the DMV my Insurance Information...exactly ZERO times.  Do you know who handles that?  My insurance company.  So why isn't your insurance company doing this for you? 

Or is this a case where you cancelled your insurance and they notified the State?

Months later the dmv sends me a notice that they have no record of my insurance.

- Since MOST insurance expires every six months.  Isn't it just possible that the insurance you used to get your registration had expired and the DMV was asking for an updated copy?

Then, a few weeks later I get a notice that they received the insurance information but that my registration is suspended unless I pay them $14.00 for their mistake.

- Please post a scanned copy of this letter...of course leaving out your personal information.  I would especially like to see the part that they admit they made a mistake and are still going to charge you a fee.

No wonder there are so many cars with out of state plates

- Oh and I have never seen an out of State plate in Washington...yea right. 

No I do not work for the DMV.