A database Kentucky will start using statewide in about a month will catch more uninsured drivers but may also cause headaches for some vehicle registrations.
Insurance companies will send infromation to a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet database that will notify the state if someone cancels their car insurance and allow the state to cancel a person’s vehicle registration if the person has been uninsured for two months.
The state has used this system in eight counties over the past few years and some county clerks began using the system off and on this year, but it will be the norm statewide starting June 1.
“If the system catches you, your registration gets cancelled,” said Chuck Wolfe, spokesman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
County clerks, however, said the public should know of potential difficulties in renewing vehicle registration or transfering titles.
If a person’s insurance information isn’t in the database, then that person must produce an insurance card no older than 45 days from that date or have the insurance company send the state proof.
The 45 day law has been on the books for about six years, but most local governments have only started enforcing it this year after the state directed them to and started updating the insurance database, local clerks and state officials said.
Lawmakers wanted to crack down on people who canceled their car insurance after getting their vehicles registered and continued driving without insurance, said Campbell County Clerk Jack Snodgrass.
Campbell County started enforcing the 45-day rule in January of this year, but had to temporarily stop when they got too many complaints, Snodgrass said.
Some insurance companies have not sent information to the state database, he said. Those people have been unable to renew or transfer their registration or get vehicle registration or transfers until they can provide a new insurance card less than 45 days old, Snodgrass said. The database can also create false hits through typos or if a person changes insurance companies.
The county resumed enforcing it on May 1, and 10 people in Campbell County couldn’t get renewals as a result, Snodgrass said.
“For awhile it has been hectic,” Snodgrass said. “Customers are very unhappy with us. All we are doing is following the law. I had my deputies get as many insurance carriers in the area as possible and sent them a letter about what needs to be done. It has slowed down since then.”
Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown said it has caused some headaches, but it has also caught some uninsured drivers, he said.
“It has been effective, but it is no reason to inconvenience a large amount of people,” Brown said.