Norman Gregory Fernandez California Biker Lawyer’s Motorcycles 2010
Big brother is not playing games anymore. The State of California has implemented a new system whereby as of October 1, 2006, the DMV begin a systematic review of the 22.4 million private cars, light trucks and motorcycles registered in the state.
If your motorcycle, car, truck or other motor vehicle is found to be uninsured you will get a 30 day warning letter. If you fail to get insurance after that the State will suspend you registration. If you are found to be driving without a proper registration, your car can be seized by the State, and you can face fines of up to $1,000.00.
This is no joke folks. If you are driving around without insurance you will eventually be dinged.
Furthermore, insurance providers are now required by the State to notify the DMV if your insurance is cancelled or expired.
What does this mean to you? It means if you are driving around with no insurance you are screwed. The State will eventually catch up to you. The days of buying insurance to get your registration and plates, only to cancel one month later are over.
If you get into a motorcycle, car or other motor vehicle accident and have no insurance, you face losing your drivers license for up to a year, fines of up to ,000.00, and the possibility of being hit with a civil judgment which requires you to pay for the damage you have caused.
The minimum liability insurance requirements in the State are presently ,000.00 for property damage, ,000.00 per person, and ,000.00 per occurrence.
The purpose of the law is to supposedly make it fair to the people that do pay for insurance, and to drive down insurance rates. I agree that it is not fair that law abiding citizens pay for insurance while 15% of the people in the State do not, however, and as usual, the insurance companies will make out like bandits with this new law. I doubt seriously that insurance rates will go down.
As a personal injury lawyer I can tell you that it pains me to see someone get hit by an uninsured motorist so it is good that the State is cracking down on this issue. However to be really fair the State should force the insurance companies to lower their rates in return for this law.
There is one other thing to note; if you are uninsured and you get into an accident that is not your fault, no will only be able to recover out of pocket losses and that is it! To add insult to injury you could lose your drivers license for 1 year and have to pay up to $2,000.00 in fines for driving without insurance.
The bottom line; get liability insurance. The cost of not having insurance is much greater than the cost of getting insurance. If you cannot afford liability insurance; do not drive!
By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. © 2006
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Norm: I think all states are starting to crack down on uninsured motorists. In Florida if you let your auto insurance lapse or non pay, the insurance company will send a fax to Tallahassee Dept. of Motor Vehicles and your license will be suspended right away. They also can remove your license plate, tag from the car. If you have a lien on the vehicle the insurance will send the leinholder notice that you have no insurance and then the leinholder can pick up your vehicle. There is a bare minimum that one can purchase and get by with satisfying the State but I own a home so I purchase real insurance. Funny thing, if this law was enforced we would not have to buy uninsured motorists insurance coverage. It is amazing how many people are on our highways without insurance, Hey, it is nearly as bad as the people driving with suspended license. I think it needs to be cracked down on.
Minimum insurance requirments are a lot lower in Florida. People actually carry $2,000 deductibles on bodily injury. Of course if they have a lein on their vehicle they must carry enough insurance to pay it off if something happens. The leinholder does not care about you. I have a friend who just bought a Hummer and they bought “gap” insurance because even with a good trade in and large cash downpayment, you get upside down on what you owe real quick because vehicles decrease in value as soon as you drive them off the lot and before you make the first payment. Still a lot of uninsured motorists. I carry uninsured on both vehicles and Harley’s. You just never know.
Do they have under insured insurance? In Florida I “THINK” you can only sue up to the insurance coverage one has purchased. It is a problem here. I know of someone who changed insurance companies. The old company sent a letter to the State letting them know that she had cancelled her insurance. The Stae did not receive right away the new insurance companies information on being her new insurance carrier information. The new info was sent the same day she went in and paid for 6 months coverage and pictures were taken of her car. During the Christmas holidays she was stopped in a DUI Checkpoint. The Sheriff informed her that her drivers kicense was suspended. There was no notice from the State. Lucky for her because the Sheriff was busy carting off drunk drivers. They gave her a ticket and let her friend drive her car because she did have proof of insurance in her glove compartment.
Uninsured motorists are a real problem around the country. However NLETS, the same people who provide police oficers real time info on outstanding warrents, is trying implement a nation wide auto insurance verification system. There are some problems getting insurance companies to cooperate, but it is coming.
Are there any states that do not require motorcycle insurance?
I can’t afford 330 a month!!
Anything lower than 10/15/30 is too low. I feel sorry for someone who gets hit by someone with lower policy limits than that! The solution would be to buy under-insured motorist coverage to cover the difference!
I agree with you on Gap insurance. You will find articles about all of these types on insurance here on the Biker Law Blog. If you go to the main tab on the top and search for insurance the articles should come up.
Take care Sandie!
Norm
I am not sure about Florida. In California you can sue for your total damages in an accident no matter how much insurance the defendant has. Let’s say they have only 15k in coverage, but you have 100k in damages. In California you can sue for all of your damages. The only trouble is collecting the amount above policy limits!
You should check with a Florida PI lawyer on this issue.
Norm
Thanks for the info Mike.
Norm
Jeff I cannot comment on States other than California, since I am licensed in California. California requires liability insurance for all drivers of a vehicle.
I can say that I do talk to bikers from all over the Country and I have never heard of anyone paying $330.00 per month for motorcycle insurance. The average that I have heard of is anywhere from $300 to $800 per year with full coverage for liability and the motorcycle.
You need to Shop around!
Norm