OnlineAutoInsurance.com: State Legislator Targets Auto Insurance Verification Program

    RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA, January 25, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Rep. Matt Huffman recently introduced to the Ohio State Legislature a bill that would put an end to the random insurance verification program administered by the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV).

The BMV first instituted the Random Selection Program in 1998 with the aim of cutting down the rate of uninsured drivers in the state.

That rate is expected to have risen in recent years along with increases in the unemployment rate. The basic logic is that as more drivers become unemployed, more shed coverage in order to cut down on expenses. Doing so, though, may be financially disastrous. Considering the cost of accidents and fines, it may be more affordable in the long run to purchase low down payment auto insurance with reasonable monthly costs than to take on the exposure of driving uninsured.

Through the Random Selection Program, the BMV sends out letters to auto owners prompting them to mail back proof of coverage. If proof is not provided within 90 days, letter recipients have their licenses suspended and are subject to fines.

According to Online Auto Insurance News, the BMV sends out about 5,400 letters a week, with an average of approximately 8 percent of the recipients failing to send back proof of coverage.

Rep. Huffman recently told a panel that the program is having adverse consequences for some Ohioans. In some instances, he said, residents living outside of the state for a short period of time are returning to find that their licenses have been suspended because of a failure to reply to the notices.

But the BMV has stated that alternate methods -- like requiring proof of insurance to be shown at the time of vehicle registration -- have proved ineffective in other states. In this scenario, uninsured drivers who get a notice in the mail may be able to secure a cheap, monthly policy that they will simply drop after proof is provided to the state.

Source: http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/fr_random_selection.stm

To learn more about proof of a policy and other coverage issues, readers can go to http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/ where visitors will find informative resource pages and a free-to-use quote-comparison generator that can help jump-start the search for an affordable policy.

Website: http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/

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