Insurance companies are required to report coverage
changes (new policies and terminations) on a monthly basis. Companies
send this information to DMV on computer cartridges or tapes.
Individual agents cannot send this information; it must come from a firm's
home office.
Reported information includes Vehicle Identification
Number, the name(s) of the insured and appropriate dates.
It is
important that the name(s) on your insurance and vehicle registration
match. If you change the name on your insurance, you must also change the name on your vehicle registration and title. At least one name on the registration and the
insurance must be the same.
Once a vehicle has been identified as a possible uninsured vehicle, the verification process begins.
A request will be sent to the registered owner to
verify the insurance company's name, policy number, name(s) and
Vehicle Identification Number or to determine whether the vehicle has
been sold or taken out of state. Please keep your address current with
DMV. See Address Changes.
You have 20 days to respond through our online Insurance Verification Response or the mail. Once we
receive your information, the request is forwarded to the insurance company identified on
the form. The process ends if the insurance company verifies the vehicle was
continually covered. The DMV will notify the owner that the incident
has been resolved.
If the registered owner or the insurance
company does not respond, or if the insurance company denies coverage, the vehicle
registration is suspended. The owner will receive a certified letter regarding
the suspension and must either reinstate the registration or surrender the license plates. If the
owner believes the registration was suspended in error, he or she has
the right to appeal the action through the Office
of Administrative Hearings.
You may check the status of your registration using our online Registration Status Inquiry and your license plate and the last 4 digits of the VIN. Please note only the current status (active, expired, suspended or surrendered) is displayed. Pending suspensions are not shown. |