Driving without insurance?!?!?!?!

[smphbear]

The one good thing our state does have is the no pay, no play law. About 9 years ago I rear ended a lady when she tried to make a left turn through an area that was blocked off with construction barrels.

First, she moved the car further down from the actual stopping point. When the cop got there, she kept handing him various insurance cards which were all out of date. Her car was impounded. She kept saying her neck hurt as she dug her whole house out of the trunk and interior before her car was impounded and taken by the tow truck.

She said her sister would take her to the hospital. The best part is she kept fussing about how she was on her way to a job interview. How can I put this politely?... The only interview she could possibly have dressed like she was - to see which corner she could work.

She even had a lawyer the next morning. My insurance co. wrote a letter to remind her lawyer of the law saying she could not claim the first $10,000 in property or bodily damages. That was the end of it.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Another PA'er here. I think it's virtually impossible to drive in my state (at least the Phila area) without insurance.
Example.......we bought my dd a used car last summer. The private owner we purchased from, delayed in getting the registration switched but he dropped the car from his insurance once it was in our possession. We did have it covered. But because the name of the owner was delayed in being switched over for a period of 2 weeks, about a month to 6 weeks after we bought the car, we got a NASTY letter from PA Bureau of Transportation asking us to appear in court and we would have to turn our license plate over to them. I had to prove that the car was insured for that 2 week period. This involved writing a letter, providing proof and dates of insurance, and sending the letter certified ! Our ins company had to actually fax the Bureau as well. Also, one cannot register their car without providing insurance info. If you lapse in insurance payments here in PA, they immediately notify the Bureau of Transportation AND the loan holder if you are making payments on your car. And one more thing----one cannot get their car's yearly state inspection without having insurance. Just got my dd's car inspected. Mistakenly, she had her expired ins card in the car and they required us to provide the current insurance card before placing the inspection stickers on the car.

So have no idea how some people can get away without having insurance. PA is STRICT ! We pay $2,400/year to insure 4 cars in our family

 

[faindrops27]

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!

I live in Long Island, NY. I have been in two accidents with unisured, unregistered drivers. Both accident's were their faults. Both illegal aliens. They both got off scott free. They do not go to jail. Because, the law does not apply to them. I get a totalled truck, and they cant pay, and they get off scott free. Great huh? Now, if I were the one who caused the accident, and I was uninsured, and unregistered. I would be going to jail. How is this fair?

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

So have no idea how some people can get away without having insurance. PA is STRICT ! We pay $2,400/year to insure 4 cars in our family

They don't insure the car. They don't register the car. They don't get it inspected. And in many cases, they never obtain a legal driver's license. They have nothing to lose, so there's no reason to insure themselves against loss. The car is pretty much a hoop-dee, so they don't care if it is impounded.

I live near Philly and see it all of the time. We also have 4 cars and pay way more that $2400/yr for insurance- even though our driving records are clean - because of the cavalier attitude of those uninsured/unlicensed drivers in our area.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I live in Long Island, NY. I have been in two accidents with unisured, unregistered drivers. Both accident's were their faults. Both illegal aliens. They both got off scott free. They do not go to jail. Because, the law does not apply to them. I get a totalled truck, and they cant pay, and they get off scott free. Great huh? Now, if I were the one who caused the accident, and I was uninsured, and unregistered. I would be going to jail. How is this fair?

I agree this is unfair and wrong. But this is an illegal alien issue and not so much of a state of NY insurance issue. If they were legal citizens, your NY laws would have kicked in. It is very unfortunate. You can't claim repair from your own insurance company ? We had an incident back in 1998. Came back from WDW and our car had been parked in a hotel parking lot by the airport (park and fly package). Anyway.....car was not there when the shuttle took us to the lot. Here, it turns out, a 90 yo man had crashed through the fence of the parking lot and destroyed 6 cars (ours included). His lawyer was fighting it tooth and nail---saying he had a medical condition and shouldn't be held responsible for the damages. Two to three months went by and we complained to our ins company that we had no car and had been renting vehicles. They ended up cutting us a check for $8,000 (the fair market value of our car which had been totaled) plus reimbursed us for all our car rentals. My dh asked them why the elderly man's ins didn't pay. They said something about loop holes and that our insurance provided coverage for conditions like this as well as uninsured drivers.

 

[MiaSRN62]

They don't insure the car. They don't register the car. They don't get it inspected. And in many cases, they never obtain a legal driver's license. They have nothing to lose, so there's no reason to insure themselves against loss. The car is pretty much a hoop-dee, so they don't care if it is impounded.

I live near Philly and see it all of the time. We also have 4 cars and pay way more that $2400/yr for insurance- even though our driving records are clean - because of the cavalier attitude of those uninsured/unlicensed drivers in our area.

Wow akamad4themouse.........
I guess they just drive around illegal until the cops spot them. Heck...I got spotted last year because I had forgotten to put my updated registration sticker on my license plate. I was stopped at a red light and the police officer wanted to verify I had current registration ! So here I am......a legal, law abiding citizen, and I got stopped because I forgot to put the new little 1x1 inch sticker on my plate !
Our insurance is $2,400 but only 1 car has comp and collision. The other three cars only have full liability. We purposely dropped the comp and collision on the other three because the insurance rates would have been WAY more than $2,400. We had to keep the comp and collision on the one car because we are still making payments on that one. Also, dh went online and did a search for the lowest insurance (that had a decent reputation). AIG was that one. We dropped Nationwide because it was too high despite our clean driving records. So we really shopped around and dropped collision coverage to get that rate. Sure I'd prefer to have collision, but it's not required by law and we couldn't afford it.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

In New Hampshire there is no law requiring insurance. It is perfectly legal to drive around with no insurance. I would never do it, and it makes me insane that they allow this, but insurance is not required by all states...

 

[MiaSRN62]

It is perfectly legal to drive around with no insurance. I would never do it, and it makes me insane that they allow this, but insurance is not required by all states...

I have a question then, about your state and others that do not require insurance.
If you get hit by an uninsured driver, will your insurance policy cover the damages ? Are there clauses built in ? If not, then why would anyone carry insurance if they couldn't be prosecuted for an accident ?

 

[nunzia]

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.

Great idea..and I think New Mexico is moving toward this. You get a notice if it's reported you have a car uninsured. I know this, NOT because we weren't insured, but because we no longer had the car in question. It seems departments aren't communicating..surprise:surprise.
Anyway, in New Mexico this is a HUGE problem. You can be fairly certain if someone runs into you they probably:
a. have no insurance
b. have no registration
c. have a suspended or no license
d. are not a US citizen (but that is another discussion)

 

[mikkishelles]

Another PA'er here. I think it's virtually impossible to drive in my state (at least the Phila area) without insurance.
Example.......we bought my dd a used car last summer. The private owner we purchased from, delayed in getting the registration switched but he dropped the car from his insurance once it was in our possession. We did have it covered. But because the name of the owner was delayed in being switched over for a period of 2 weeks, about a month to 6 weeks after we bought the car, we got a NASTY letter from PA Bureau of Transportation asking us to appear in court and we would have to turn our license plate over to them. I had to prove that the car was insured for that 2 week period. This involved writing a letter, providing proof and dates of insurance, and sending the letter certified ! Our ins company had to actually fax the Bureau as well. Also, one cannot register their car without providing insurance info. If you lapse in insurance payments here in PA, they immediately notify the Bureau of Transportation AND the loan holder if you are making payments on your car. And one more thing----one cannot get their car's yearly state inspection without having insurance. Just got my dd's car inspected. Mistakenly, she had her expired ins card in the car and they required us to provide the current insurance card before placing the inspection stickers on the car.

So have no idea how some people can get away without having insurance. PA is STRICT ! We pay $2,400/year to insure 4 cars in our family

PA is strict, but the car insurance is very inexpensive. I am in Brooklyn, NY. I have a clean license and pay $1100 per year. I also have a weekend home in the Poconos and because we were thinking of moving there permanently, got an insurance quote. For the same car and coverage, it was $500 per year.

 

[mikkishelles]

Great idea..and I think New Mexico is moving toward this. You get a notice if it's reported you have a car uninsured. I know this, NOT because we weren't insured, but because we no longer had the car in question. It seems departments aren't communicating..surprise:surprise.
Anyway, in New Mexico this is a HUGE problem. You can be fairly certain if someone runs into you they probably:
a. have no insurance
b. have no registration
c. have a suspended or no license
d. are not a US citizen (but that is another discussion)

So, all the citizens are exemplary drivers? Where do documented immigrants {ie green card holders} fall in that category?

 

[MiaSRN62]

PA is strict, but the car insurance is very inexpensive. I am in Brooklyn, NY. I have a clean license and pay $1100 per year. I also have a weekend home in the Poconos and because we were thinking of moving there permanently, got an insurance quote. For the same car and coverage, it was $500 per year.

Michelle.....
I'm glad u think PA is inexpensive. It all depends on the type of car you have.....whether you have comp and collision or just liability..........whether it's paid off or not.....etc. My one car that we are still paying for is a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer. Purchased it used with 23K miles on it. For that car alone, we are paying 1,010 a year for. MY ds drives a 1998 Plymouth Neon and pays $875 year for liability alone---he's got no collision coverage.
So if you got $500/year....have no idea how, because we called at least 10 companies for quotes and live near Philly. Maybe it's WHERE you live ? Being close to Philly may be more costly. Glad u got a good rate but I feel our rates are high. Of course, everyone knows NY is high with everything.........
Oh yeah.....forgot to add. My teen dd drives a 1999 Dodge Intrepid. No comp and collision----only liability and she is paying $1,800 a year ! Probably because she's a young driver.

 

[Belle5]

I live in Long Island, NY. I have been in two accidents with unisured, unregistered drivers. Both accident's were their faults. Both illegal aliens. They both got off scott free. They do not go to jail. Because, the law does not apply to them. I get a totalled truck, and they cant pay, and they get off scott free. Great huh? Now, if I were the one who caused the accident, and I was uninsured, and unregistered. I would be going to jail. How is this fair?

My DH has been in three hit and run accidents with what are likely (might I say obviously) illegal aliens in the past 15 years. Last month's accident left him with a fracture and some physical therapy. It's all part of living in Texas. Of course, OUR under-insured motorist coverage has to foot the bill again. These illegals from South America know they can't be questioned about the accident so they take off, before they can be held accountable in any way. I am not sure what the answer is. We must address the illegal alien problem!

 

[mikkishelles]

Michelle.....
I'm glad u think PA is inexpensive. It all depends on the type of car you have.....whether you have comp and collision or just liability..........whether it's paid off or not.....etc. My one car that we are still paying for is a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer. Purchased it used with 23K miles on it. For that car alone, we are paying 1,010 a year for. MY ds drives a 1998 Plymouth Neon and pays $875 year for liability alone---he's got no collision coverage.
So if you got $500/year....have no idea how, because we called at least 10 companies for quotes and live near Philly. Maybe it's WHERE you live ? Being close to Philly may be more costly. Glad u got a good rate but I feel our rates are high. Of course, everyone knows NY is high with everything.........
Oh yeah.....forgot to add. My teen dd drives a 1999 Dodge Intrepid. No comp and collision----only liability and she is paying $1,800 a year ! Probably because she's a young driver.

I guess it could also depend where you are? I am in Brooklyn, which is notoriously high for insurance. Our PA place is very rural, between Cresco and Newfoundland, about 40 minutes south of Hawley...

 

[Darcy03231]

I have a question then, about your state and others that do not require insurance.
If you get hit by an uninsured driver, will your insurance policy cover the damages ? Are there clauses built in ? If not, then why would anyone carry insurance if they couldn't be prosecuted for an accident ?

If you get hit by an uninsured motorist, your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage will pay, less whatever your deductible is. While no one is required to carry motor vehicle insurance, if you don't have insurance and have an accident you are required to pay all damages. If you can't pay you are then required to have insurance and are placed in a high risk pool. Usually the carrier that paid out also sues the person who doesn't have insurance to try to recover their money (this happened to someone I know which is why I know so much about it). While insurance isn't required, most everyone I know has it.

 

[eliza61]

Another PA'er here. I think it's virtually impossible to drive in my state (at least the Phila area) without insurance.
Example.......we bought my dd a used car last summer. The private owner we purchased from, delayed in getting the registration switched but he dropped the car from his insurance once it was in our possession. We did have it covered. But because the name of the owner was delayed in being switched over for a period of 2 weeks, about a month to 6 weeks after we

So have no idea how some people can get away without having insurance. PA is STRICT ! We pay $2,400/year to insure 4 cars in our family

Hey Girlfriend,
Unfortunately It's not that hard. I can't tell you of all the folks I know if philly who are driving with suspended licences and no insurance. One easy way they do it, is go to the local insurance company sign up for a policy pay 1 months premium, get the insurance card and then let it laspe.
Sure you get reported to the dmv but the cops in Philly are having a murder spree, not much time to drive to your resident and impound your car.
2 of the women I know are seniors. Economics is pretty simple. PECO gas raised the heating this winter from $150/month to over $250 month. Some thing had to go and since it's usually a choice between insurance and food guess which one goes.

NJ has some of the highest premiums in the country and the worst for public transportation.

 

[MiaSRN62]

One easy way they do it, is go to the local insurance company sign up for a policy pay 1 months premium, get the insurance card and then let it laspe.
Sure you get reported to the dmv but the cops in Philly are having a murder spree, not much time to drive to your resident and impound your car.
2 of the women I know are seniors. Economics is pretty simple. PECO gas raised the heating this winter from $150/month to over $250 month. Some thing had to go and since it's usually a choice between insurance and food guess which one goes.

I totally hear what you're saying. I guess living in the burbs....the police don't see much action, so stopping me for forgetting to put a sticker on license plate or taking us to court is more doable.

And I TOTALLY understand how many cannot afford insurance---and sympathize greatly. My heating oil prices doubled----I should only have $500 left to pay, but instead I have a residual balance of $1,000 because of oil prices. It's horrible.....I don't know how some people get by.

I absolutely understand choosing food over insurance----I would too. Don't want to be misunderstood for being insensitive or anything. That wasn't my point. I was just curious how they got away with it----you know.....still able to drive their cars. I saw how the PA Bureau of Trans jumped on us real fast with the issue of my dd's car for suspicion of 2 weeks with no insurance. They had a court date and all for us until I was able to prove coverage for those 14 days. So sorry if my question/post was misunderstood. I used to volunteer with Meals ON Wheels.......and always give to the PECO fund for those who can't pay their utility bills etc.

 

[Muushka]

Hi Girlfriends, Eliza and Maria

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 !

Yay! You mean RI requires insurance now? When I lived there (up until 1986), insurance was not mandatory. My BIL was hit by an uninsured truck. Out of work for 2 years with injuries plus to this day has several physical limitations due to that accident (motorcycle).

I worked with someone who chose not to have insurance. We got into a conversation one day. I asked her how she could drive around uninsured. She told me not to worry about her because she didn't own anything so she had nothing to lose (she was not being sarcastic). I told her: believe me, I am not worried about you, just the poor sap you hit!

I have a question then, about your state and others that do not require insurance.
If you get hit by an uninsured driver, will your insurance policy cover the damages ? Are there clauses built in ? If not, then why would anyone carry insurance if they couldn't be prosecuted for an accident ?

In RI we paid extra annually for uninsured motorists insurance. We carried it (in RI) because 1. it was the right thing to do and 2. we didn't want to lose everything! They guy who hit my BIL owned nothing, so he just had to carry the guilt (they were both from the same small town where everyone knew what had happened).

 

[battricia]

Plymouth Neon and pays $875 year for liability alone---he's got no collision coverage.

That is insane. we have a 97 honda civic that is insured for about 200 dollars (added on to our policy), we live in pittsburgh. Our ford focus is about 1000 with collision and all the other stuff that you would put on a newer car. yikes.

 

[mountdew1]

In New Hampshire there is no law requiring insurance. It is perfectly legal to drive around with no insurance. I would never do it, and it makes me insane that they allow this, but insurance is not required by all states...

I recently moved to NH, and this lack of law bewildered me. In MA, you can't register your car without insurance. And you cannot cancel your insurance without proof that the plates have been returned. In NH, I couldn't GET insurance until my car was registered. I was not happy about driving around for even 2 hours in a non-insured car.