Here is the story: I'm a NJ resident. Last year my ex and I went to a lake to have a picnic. I recieved a ticket for having a bottle of wine open by a park patrol officer. I was pissed so I threw the ticket somewhere in my Prius and totally forgot about it. A few months pass by and I get pulled over by a cop...he says that my license is suspended! Fast fowarding, court said that because I didn't pay the ticket, dmv suspended my driving license. I never got a reminder notice through the mail to pay the ticket so I face this stupid consequence. Now, I've had geico insurance for the past 4 years. I was paying 171/month for full coverage. I just recieved my renewal and it went up to 659/month!!! I'm screwed! I can't pay this! I called geico and they explained to me that it was the driving while suspended violation that got me 9 insurance points that won't go away for 3 and a half years. What can I do?? I can't afford the new rate. Has anyone been in this kind of mess? How can insurance go up so much?? There's gotta be a way around this. Please, I ask you for some help. Thank you!!
I just used Google and put in: car insurance points There is a lot of info out there. How do points affect your insurance rates?? How long do car insurance points stay on your record?? http://www.jringram.com/PracticeAreas/Insurance-Points.asp\ You may want to check it more yourself.
I'm not looking for how long the points will be on my insurance I know that already...I'm not looking for how insurance points affect my rates...I know that because mine went up 400 dollars and some change. I'm asking for advice if anyone had such a high insurance rate and did something to bring that rate down...by not just a few dollars a year...but a couple hundred dollars a month. I was thinking of going to PA and getting a driver's license then registering my car in PA. Once again HELP!
Registering in another state when suspended is not a good idea. Since 9/11 all of the states (are supposed) have shared records with DMV. Your best bet is to look for an insurance broker that deals with multiple insurance companies. As you have found out... it is not the responsibility of the government to remind you when you owe them money or when a court date is. Best of luck to you.
Your points will follow you to PA. Talk to your insurance company or to a lawyer to see what (if anything) can be done. Or, as others have said, try another insurance company. I'm sure there will be a penalty for driving while suspended where ever you go.
My license is not suspended right now...it has been restored last year. I only have insurance points that wont go away for the next 3 years. Has anyone done this: Direct a bill over to a new address in a diff. state...get that state's license...register your car there in that new state. Get insurance. And still work in the other state?
Don't make the problem worse by "state shopping", and end up paying a lot of transfer fees and such. Do exactly what maseance stated, shop insurance companies. Your present insurance company is not going to give you any discount for changing states, so I do not understand your desire to change states.
My idea is to change states...get another insurance company besides geico...maybe like progressive. Then start like that.... feed back pls
Usually taking a defensive driving course or something to that effect will lower your "risk" to the insurance companies and therefore reduce your rates; however I don't know if that would apply in your situation, given the fact that your license was suspended...for having wine in a park. Wow, have park rangers got nothing better to do? Progressive is a good idea. They've always given me cheap rates, and last time I checked, you can compare multiple companies' potential rates on their website. Wouldn't hurt.
shop around for new quotes, take a defensive driving class, drop full coverage to state minimums... not much else you can do. you have to establish residency in a state before you can go get a driver's license and register your car there.
if i go on websites and check quotes ... they wont run a history report on my record so it will look like im getting a good deal...but once they do i will still get slapped with the 659 a month. Def. Driving course i asked about...they said that it will only take away 132 off the premium for the half year. so that's 3,700 - 132 = not much of a diff. What else can i do
Yes and residency i thought about... i thought about transfering my verizon cell phone bill over to a that "new" state and then waiting a month then finally getting my license and insurance... can this plan go wrong?
they usually require an apartment lease, mortgage, or utility bill (the kind that you need at a place to live- electric, water, etc)
to meet residency requirements you MUST present two of the following (for customers 18 years of age or older): • Current utility bills (water, gas, electric, cable, etc.) • Tax Records • Lease Agreements * Cellular/mobile or pager bills are not acceptable • W-2 Form • Current weapons permit • Mortgage documents
Remember you can change your auto insurance at any time and get a pro-rated refund of what you paid. No need to wait for a policy to expire. So shop around, take whoever gives you the best rates now, and switch if they raise the rates later. There's always somebody else who will beat the other guy's quote to get your business.
So the defensive driving course only saves $132. It still pays for itself and one can learn something. Yes, registering & insuring a car out of state can go seriously wrong. If you are involved in a collision they may call it "insurance fraud", void the policy, and persue criminal charges. If you are going to move to DE, PA or NY the state won't care as much as the insurance company about your history. You can't outrun a computer. Talk to a lawyer.
I used an agent and found that no one could beat Mercury Casualty. I would definitely ask them for a quote and go with the minimum state requirement.
I could not agree more. Flouting the law (twice, either deliberately or accidentally, it doesn't matter which) is what got the original poster into this situation. It seems to me that next time the consequences could be more serious than just money.
The moral of the story: No matter how unfair you think a fine is, pay it or pay much, much heavier consequences later.
