Driving without insurance?!?!?!?!

[tonilea]

DH ( ::cop: ) says that he is seeing more and more drivers with no insurance!

Comments?

 

[Grumpy'sWife4Ever]

I am not surprised. Although it is obviously irresponsible and it drives up the rates of those of us who follow the law and pay, those who find themselves struggling to make it through the month just might decide that they will "risk" it to save that $$$. After all, it only becomes an issue if you get pulled over (or worse, in an accident) and how often does that happen? I think that as our economy gets tighter and the gas prices soar, we are going to see people cutting all kinds of corners they never would have considered before. Is it right? Of course not. Fair? Nope. But I am sure it is more common than we wold imagine.....

 

[tonilea]

I am not surprised. Although it is obviously irresponsible and it drives up the rates of those of us who follow the law and pay, those who find themselves struggling to make it through the month just might decide that they will "risk" it to save that $$$. After all, it only becomes an issue if you get pulled over (or worse, in an accident) and how often does that happen? I think that as our economy gets tighter and the gas prices soar, we are going to see people cutting all kinds of corners they never would have considered before. Is it right? Of course not. Fair? Nope. But I am sure it is more common than we wold imagine.....

I agree with you. If I had to choose between gas to go to work and support my family, food to feed my family and insurance....

 

[smphbear]

I am also concerned because our legislature just moved the required limits up. (We already are covered for more than the new minimum.) While it is needed to cover the price of today's cars, so many people can barely afford what they have. Also, we already have a decent number of uninsured. I worry that people will just say the heck with it and have none.

 

[mikkishelles]

I would never drive without insurance. Thankfully, I don't foresee times being so hard as that I couldn't at least pay my liability insurance. Even if it did, I would take public transportation before taking such a huge risk. I do realize, however, that many do not have the option of public transportation, but I still would make sure I had some sort of coverage.

 

[tonilea]

I would never drive without insurance. Thankfully, I don't foresee times being so hard as that I couldn't at least pay my liability insurance. Even if it did, I would take public transportation before taking such a huge risk. I do realize, however, that many do not have the option of public transportation, but I still would make sure I had some sort of coverage.

Long before liability insurance was required by law, it was the law at my parent's house. You didn't have insurance, you didn't drive. The end. So, I have always had insurance and can't imagine being without it. But, I do think we are going to see more and more people dropping their insurance to make ends meet.

 

[ajk912]

My 19 year old sister is in this position. When you are 19 years old and insurance rates are sky high, and it's hard to find an entry level job because they are scarce in the times (there was just a story about it on yahoo) you are kind of screwed. Luckily, my parents are paying it for now..but not everyone has my parents.

 

[Frankiesmom]

Here in NY the ins co's have to notify the DMV if you're coverage is cancelled; and you HAVE to turn in your plates and for each day you don't it's an $8 per day fine- you're only allowed 1 lapse in 3 years and you have to pay the fine and reinstate your ins. before they'll lift the license suspension which occurs 2 weeks after an ins. lapse. I thought all states were like this? I used to work in an ins. office.

 

[happily single]

How do the cops in your State know if you don't have insurance? Here in RI we have no way of telling. If you are pulled over or involved in an accident and present an insurance card that's it. What people (Not me!) do is pay for one month's premimum, get the insurance card, which is normally valid for 6 months or 1 year and never pay the monthly charge. The insurance cancels, but they still have a "valid" insurance card.

If you are involved in an accident and the property damage is over $500 you are required to complete a "State" Form and then the State DMV investigates to make sure you hav e insurance. If not they will suspend your license.

I was unfortunate enough to be hit by an uninsured motorist in July, 2003 literally around the corner from my house. Luckily my uninsured motorist covered it and then the insurance copmany went after the man, and I use that term loosely, to collect the money. That's a whole other story though !

 

[kbkids]

Here in NY the ins co's have to notify the DMV if you're coverage is cancelled; and you HAVE to turn in your plates and for each day you don't it's an $8 per day fine- you're only allowed 1 lapse in 3 years and you have to pay the fine and reinstate your ins. before they'll lift the license suspension which occurs 2 weeks after an ins. lapse. I thought all states were like this? I used to work in an ins. office.

I thought so too. There was a flub up a few years back with DH's insurance, and he got notification from the DMV that his license was suspended until he could produce proof of insurance. Our insurance company took care of it for us, but I had don't know how people are driving around without it. Unless they're driving with a suspended licence. ???

 

[Frankiesmom]

I guess in each state it's different? I don't understand why each state has different regs? If they were all like NY you wouldn't have these issues; you just wouldn't be able to drive, as you have to return you're plates once you drop ins- I think you can even go to jail if the police catch someone driving with revoked plates!

 

[HeatherSue]

My husband is also a ::cop: . But, he just started working 2 days ago!

Anyway, an aquaintance was driving without insurance and got pulled over. This happened several times and he eventually got his license yanked. He ended up racking up $18,000 in fees and is now filing bancruptcy. I'd say he would have saved some $$ by pay his insurance bill!!

 

[catgirl]

In Michigan you are required to carry insurance at all times. If you go w/o for more than 39 days you are then required to be written in a high risk group for at least 6 mo. The high risk insurance cost about 3 times as much. I work in insurance and we are seeing more and more people letting there insurance lapse. Unfortunately, they do not let us help them as their insurance agent. It is better to have the min coverage than no coverage at all. Please, if you ever find yourself having trouble paying for your insurance, check with your agent. There are many types of coverage and usually payment plans that can help. Not guaranting we can solve your problem, but it is worth letting us try. I call my customers all the time when I see these policies cancelling for non-payment and most won't give me a few moments of their time to see if I can help.

 

[danceintherain]

Wait... you're supposed to have insurance?!?!?! I don't have any!



Just kidding... well not entirely... I don't have a car which counteracts the need for insurance.
I rely entirely on my own feet and the vehicles of other people. It is getting slightly more difficult, and I will most likely have to get myself a car pretty soon.

The way I've avoided it thus far is mostly due to my college student status. I lived in the dorms for my first 2 years in school (which meant dining hall meals), and this year I spent the first semester in Prague which made it easy to rely entirely on public transportation. At this point I mostly rely on my boyfriend's vehicle, which I mostly only use for food needs. My job, school and church are all within walking distance. I wish I could live like this forever, but I don't fancy living in the city. However, when I do have a car... I will pay for insurance, even if it costs a ton.

 

[tazdev3225]

In Philadelphia we pay high rates because of the amount of people who don't have insurance. I was hit recently, very minor, and of course my DH being a sheriff insisted on a police report even though we were going to keep it away from the insurance co. I only had my old insurance card and the cop let me go but warned me that my car could have been seized on the spot and I would have had to have proof of valid insurance and pay the fines to get it back.

 

[Michelle67]

I have been hit twice by uninsured drivers in the past ten years. The first one was a teenager who didn't have a driver's license either, and was driving a car that in theory belonged to his friend. I say in theory because actually it turned out the other kid had just bought the car that day, and it wasn't even in his name yet! The car was probably totalled (his, not mine). It was definitely smashed up. I'm sure that must have been a nightmare to work out for the guy who sold the car. Ugh.

Here you have to show proof of insurance if you get pulled over ($500 fine for not having it) and to register a car. Otherwise, there is no way for them to know.

 

[bumbershoot]

I guess in each state it's different? I don't understand why each state has different regs?

Each state likes to be able to determine their own laws and regulations. It took some pretty huge threats by the federal government to get every state to agree to the 21 drinking age. Each state has their own rules for professional licenses, their own ways of figuring out license plates, "tabs" for license plates, driver's licenses etc. States rights are a pretty big deal in the USA!

 

[battricia]

In PA I believe if you are pulled over w/o PROOF (yes, even if you just forgot your card!) your car will be impounded. I think this is a good practice, even though I'm sure people still do it, at least there are severe consequences to it. If you have to pay 300$ to get your car out of impound you might as well have paid insurance for 3 months.

 

[seashellmom]

I work in an insurance office and am amazed how many people will go w/o insurance. I know it can be expensive, but people play the system, let it lapse and then try to get reinstated when they receive the fine letter from the state. This pattern is part of the reason their rates are so high. All it takes is one accident and you could be completely wiped out.

 

[DVC Sadie]

I am not surprised. Although it is obviously irresponsible and it drives up the rates of those of us who follow the law and pay, those who find themselves struggling to make it through the month just might decide that they will "risk" it to save that $$$. After all, it only becomes an issue if you get pulled over (or worse, in an accident) and how often does that happen? I think that as our economy gets tighter and the gas prices soar, we are going to see people cutting all kinds of corners they never would have considered before. Is it right? Of course not. Fair? Nope. But I am sure it is more common than we wold imagine.....

I agree with you and believe that we will see a increase of all types of insurance policies (car, home and health) being cancelled or not renewing in the near future.