Q: Why is it so hard to get my insurance company to send proof of car insurance coverage to the DMV?

A: This topic is such a sore spot for customers and those that work for insurance companies. With electronic proof of coverage that is sent to the states, many things can go wrong.

1) The person keying the information could get one digit wrong and the state rejects it.  There is no forgiveness when it comes to proof of coverage the DMV

2) Just like any other form of electronic communication it can get lost in cyberspace

3) The DMV is known for having LONG processing times and just because your insurance company sent it within 20 minutes of you asking for it, it can still take some DMV’s up to 11 weeks to process.

How can you expedite this process?

Try and find a direct contact at the DMV that would accept proof of coverage from your insurance company, try and get an email address as this is much more reliable than a fax number. Then contact your insurance company or agent and ask them to send your car insurance ID card directly to that contact.

Q: My family recently moved from Massachusetts to Colorado. In Colorado, we were required to get an auto policy in order to get a CO registration and CO plates. In MA, they do not allow you to cancel your auto policy until you cancel your plates. This means we have been double-covered for a period of time before we get our CO plates. Our CO auto insurance company informed us that we should be reimbursed the period from when our CO policy went into place to the date we get plates (as long as it is within the 90 day period allotted by law in CO) by our MA insurance company. When I checked with our MA company however, we were told that would not happen, so now we are paying for 2 policies currently until we obtain plates. Auto and Homeowners insurance went into affect the day we closed on our CO residence and we do not have a residence in MA. What are the laws regarding this? We should not have to pay 2 policies because we moved.

A: Oh, Massachusetts!  This state is an insurance beast all it’s own, so much so that some insurance companies refuse to write insurance in that state and the ones that do usually have a whole department dedicated just to dealing with Massachusetts.

Agreed that you should not have to pay for two auto insurance policies, the problem is that insurance is regulated by the states and you are stuck in limbo between two of them.

What I would recommend is contacting the Division of Insurance in Massachusetts (http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/government/oca-agencies/doi-lp/) or the RMV and tell them your situation. You technically have insurance on that vehicle, even if it is in the state of Colorado and that should suffice for their insurance requirement given the situation.

Q: I recieved my DUI in 2014 and I still havent gotten my SR22 insurance. I didn’t realize I needed it. WIll i have a legal issue if I start it now? Should I go to the DMV to inqure? Or should I speak with my insurance company first? Also, would my insurance complany drop me if I asked about the SR22 insurance?

A: Contact your insurance agent today!! You need to get this taken care of now.

Your agent will walk you through the process of how to get this situation taken care of so that you don’t have legal issues. In most states your SR22 requirement doesn’t start the date you get pulled over for a DUI, but the date you are convicted of it.  The state should have notified you that you are now required to have it and the effective date.

Your insurance company will not drop you (in most cases), but they may have to backdate the SR22 surcharge to the date that the state required you to have it so you can provide proof of it to the state for that time period.

Q:  I was in accident that was ruled my fault. I also was excluded from the car insurance policy that my girlfriend holds. I own the car & the only reason I was excluded was to save money, I had a point from a accident 3 years ago.  The car insurance company called me back to say they’re checking my vin number on my car & they were going to review it & they might process the claim..can they put me back on the policy..

A: This is really the call of the insurance company. If you are the owner of the vehicle, most insurance companies will not allow you to insure your car on one of their policies and then exclude yourself as a driver to get a cheaper rate.  A driver exclusion means that the excluded driver does not drive that vehicle EVER, that is why the rate is cheaper.  So the reality is, that the insurance company does not trust that you as the owner of the vehicle never drive your own vehicle.

Q: I want to make sure I am getting all of the car insurance discounts that I qualify for with my insurance company. How can I be sure that I am?

A: Great Question!  Normally, I would say have your agent go over your car insurance policy with you. They are the ones that know the details of the company you are written with and would be the best to help you. However, it is also good to do a little research on your own and know what car insurance discounts are out there, that way you can ask specifically about certain discounts.

Below is a list of discounts that you may see on a car insurance policy. Just be aware that car insurance companies are all different and have different discounts.

Discounts

• Multiple Policy
• Multi-car
• Good Driver
• Good Student
• Distant Student
• Driver’s Training Course
• Defensive Driver Course
• Homeowner
• Accident Free
• Highly Educated
• Employment Field
• Group Discounts
• Discounts for certain payment plans