Warning: Suspended driver's license?

jleonard

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2020
Messages
745
Location
New Port Richey Florida
This is intended to be a warning/heads up but might contain a little bit of rant.

I went to renew my Florida driver's license on Wednesday (expires end of Nov) but got refused because I was on the National Driver's Registry in September of 21 for having a suspended license in the state of South Carolina. What is that? I had never heard of that.

Backstory: In May of 2021 our TT was T boned and totaled in Hardeevile, SC. I won't go into those details other than to say it was not my fault, I had a witness so the police report got written up that way, truck was not damaged at all and the trailer insurance completely covered our loss and we got our deductible back.

At the time of the accident we supplied all the proper documentation to the police, including of course the vehicle's insurance card and the number was correctly documented in the police report. (I think that because we had different insurance companies they wrote the VIN of the trailer on the report and the truck insurance number to cover any liability I may have had).

Now fast forward to Wednesday when I learned I was under suspension in SC. I called the SC DMV and they said "all" I have to do is supply a letter from my insurance company stating I had proper insurance at the time of the accident and my suspension will be cleared. Sounds easy?

Not so easy. We changed vehicle insurance companies from Progressive to Travellers. But lucily thru the same agency, so they provided a link to get me to Progressive. 5 departments later (and lots of hold time) I got to the correct person who could write the letter, but i took a very long time to get her to understand what I really needed. She agreed to fax the letter to the DMV that I was told and agreed to also copy me via e mail (because I didn't trust her to fax it properly). When I got the email, she had my very old CT driver's license number listed, not my Florida number.

Another call yesterday, and a different person (tried to) assure me that it didn't matter that the wrong number was on the letter, and that Progressive would not correct it. I'm not so sure. Therefore, I do not have 100% confidence that the letter will be accepted.

I guess the lessons here are:
Save all your expired insurance cards, you may need them (I did find an electronic copy in my files for that period, that's my backup plan).
If you any vehicle incidents call that state DMV in a few months to make sure they didn't flag your license (because they won't notify you if they do)
Trust no one.
 
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This doesn't sound like a rant to me, just a rightful concern with the mess that well-meaning government officials can make for us at times. I hate paperwork, you have my sympathies.
 
Good information. Thanks... 25 years ago we receive notice of property tax liens from Yuma AZ.. We lived in central Arizona. Visited Yuma dozens of times, never lived there. A simple number swap on data entry caused this. It took us many phone calls, letters, more phone calls to correct the problem. The Yuma officials acted all easy going : "This happens" chuckle chuckle. Well the bs it caused us was amazing
 
Disclaimer: The following is NOT meant to be a Political post, as it does not point to either political party, just the Government in general....

Probably one of the most feared phrases known to man.........
"I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help!" :ROFLMAO:
 
Good information. Thanks... 25 years ago we receive notice of property tax liens from Yuma AZ.. We lived in central Arizona. Visited Yuma dozens of times, never lived there. A simple number swap on data entry caused this. It took us many phone calls, letters, more phone calls to correct the problem. The Yuma officials acted all easy going : "This happens" chuckle chuckle. Well the bs it caused us was amazing
I once got a parking ticket (actually two of them about a week apart) from a City that I had never been to in my entire life. So, I got on the phone and after about an hour of this person to another person to another person, we finally got it resolved. In the state of Illinois, there can actually be two different license plate with the EXACT SAME NUMBER. You ask, how can that be? Well, apparently they can issue a plate with the very same number if one of the plates is for a motorcycle and the other exact same number is for a car. The number plate in question was on my motorcycle, and on the ticket that the officer writes, there are checkboxes that he did not check to specify that the ticket was for a CAR that was illegally parked. I took a picture of the plate on my motorcycle and emailed it to them, but by then, they had already verified that I was the owner of a plate with that number..........on a Motorcycle. The problem was finally solved...LOL!
 
Interesting. I've always just left my old insurance cards in the glove compartment. Kind of glad I did. Never heard of the National Drivers Registry but the term scares me given how many times gov't system breaches have compromised my PII.
 
In at least some states, when you are involved in an accident, your insurance company must send a statement confirming you were insured at the time of the accident to the state. If that doesn’t happen, your license is suspended. Since this isn’t a universal requirement, it often gets overlooked.
 
Since NH doesn't require auto insurance, we get the privilege of paying higher insurance premiums to protect us against the uninsured. Then again, they probably don't have a valid license either.
 
Try Oregon. We actually have to have insurance for getting hit from someone not insured, even though your required to have insurance to drive. Love paying for "uninsured motorist coverage"
 
When I was visiting AZ last year staying in the Phoenix area, the news reported on a chap that got caught by a traffic cam running a red light in Mesa. He was from California. Apparently the AZ ticket fine system (or whatever you call it) couldn't get word to this guy of his fine. When he went to renew his DL in Cali......he found out it was suspended... because of unpaid fines in AZ.
That was a year ago. Pretty sure I got the story right
 
Disclaimer: The following is NOT meant to be a Political post, as it does not point to either political party, just the Government in general....

Probably one of the most feared phrases known to man.........
"I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help!" :ROFLMAO:
Amen!
 
Seems to be many "National Registries" now? Insurance companies sharing information and tracking auto owners in early 2000s was new then. Same for online insurance quotes and sign ups.

I signed on with a new insurance company online for a 2002 Fjord F-150. Next day I receive a call on how the online rate was not correct. Why, I ask? The agent tells me I have excessive windshield claims on the vehicle back to 1999. ?

Naturally I ask how a 2002 truck had a windshield claim in 1999... As the fellow stammers, obvious lost, he had no answer. He calls back later with answers. We replaced another car with the F-150 and the new insurance tracking software viewed the vehicles as the same since the system tracked only the claims, while ignoring the vehicle type.

Next item was excessive windshield claims. You folks ever had a windshield crack repair at a car wash? It was a big deal in Central Arizona back then. Those *%&#&@ windshield guys at the car wash were charging our insurance $150.00 windshield replacement each time my wife had chips filled in the car windshield.
 
This is intended to be a warning/heads up but might contain a little bit of rant.

I went to renew my Florida driver's license on Wednesday (expires end of Nov) but got refused because I was on the National Driver's Registry in September of 21 for having a suspended license in the state of South Carolina. What is that? I had never heard of that.

Backstory: In May of 2021 our TT was T boned and totaled in Hardeevile, SC. I won't go into those details other than to say it was not my fault, I had a witness so the police report got written up that way, truck was not damaged at all and the trailer insurance completely covered our loss and we got our deductible back.

At the time of the accident we supplied all the proper documentation to the police, including of course the vehicle's insurance card and the number was correctly documented in the police report. (I think that because we had different insurance companies they wrote the VIN of the trailer on the report and the truck insurance number to cover any liability I may have had).

Now fast forward to Wednesday when I learned I was under suspension in SC. I called the SC DMV and they said "all" I have to do is supply a letter from my insurance company stating I had proper insurance at the time of the accident and my suspension will be cleared. Sounds easy?

Not so easy. We changed vehicle insurance companies from Progressive to Travellers. But lucily thru the same agency, so they provided a link to get me to Progressive. 5 departments later (and lots of hold time) I got to the correct person who could write the letter, but i took a very long time to get her to understand what I really needed. She agreed to fax the letter to the DMV that I was told and agreed to also copy me via e mail (because I didn't trust her to fax it properly). When I got the email, she had my very old CT driver's license number listed, not my Florida number.

Another call yesterday, and a different person (tried to) assure me that it didn't matter that the wrong number was on the letter, and that Progressive would not correct it. I'm not so sure. Therefore, I do not have 100% confidence that the letter will be accepted.

I guess the lessons here are:
Save all your expired insurance cards, you may need them (I did find an electronic copy in my files for that period, that's my backup plan).
If you any vehicle incidents call that state DMV in a few months to make sure they didn't flag your license (because they won't notify you if they do)
Trust no one.
Jay,
Glad it all worked out for you. Hang in there!
 
Another bit of advice. I traded in a car and left the tag on it. Two years later I get a ticket and a summons for that same car in a state I’ve never been too. And they send a picture of the car from the red light violation and yep, it’s my old car. Seems the dealer never took the plate off and whoever bought it never registered it so the last person on the records was me. Luckily I still had the paperwork from the sale so that cleared it up. Moral of the story, take your tag off when you sell your car and keep those sales records.
 
This is intended to be a warning/heads up but might contain a little bit of rant.

I went to renew my Florida driver's license on Wednesday (expires end of Nov) but got refused because I was on the National Driver's Registry in September of 21 for having a suspended license in the state of South Carolina. What is that? I had never heard of that.

Backstory: In May of 2021 our TT was T boned and totaled in Hardeevile, SC. I won't go into those details other than to say it was not my fault, I had a witness so the police report got written up that way, truck was not damaged at all and the trailer insurance completely covered our loss and we got our deductible back.

At the time of the accident we supplied all the proper documentation to the police, including of course the vehicle's insurance card and the number was correctly documented in the police report. (I think that because we had different insurance companies they wrote the VIN of the trailer on the report and the truck insurance number to cover any liability I may have had).

Now fast forward to Wednesday when I learned I was under suspension in SC. I called the SC DMV and they said "all" I have to do is supply a letter from my insurance company stating I had proper insurance at the time of the accident and my suspension will be cleared. Sounds easy?

Not so easy. We changed vehicle insurance companies from Progressive to Travellers. But lucily thru the same agency, so they provided a link to get me to Progressive. 5 departments later (and lots of hold time) I got to the correct person who could write the letter, but i took a very long time to get her to understand what I really needed. She agreed to fax the letter to the DMV that I was told and agreed to also copy me via e mail (because I didn't trust her to fax it properly). When I got the email, she had my very old CT driver's license number listed, not my Florida number.

Another call yesterday, and a different person (tried to) assure me that it didn't matter that the wrong number was on the letter, and that Progressive would not correct it. I'm not so sure. Therefore, I do not have 100% confidence that the letter will be accepted.

I guess the lessons here are:
Save all your expired insurance cards, you may need them (I did find an electronic copy in my files for that period, that's my backup plan).
If you any vehicle incidents call that state DMV in a few months to make sure they didn't flag your license (because they won't notify you if they do)
Trust no one.
Correct, if you license is suspended in one state it is suspended in all states and this is how they track it. When your license was suspended the DMV in SC would have sent you a letter telling you it was and why. In many cases though, that kind of letter is NOT forwarded. They want it returned to them so they can flag your file that the address on your license is not current.
 
Another bit of advice. I traded in a car and left the tag on it. Two years later I get a ticket and a summons for that same car in a state I’ve never been too. And they send a picture of the car from the red light violation and yep, it’s my old car. Seems the dealer never took the plate off and whoever bought it never registered it so the last person on the records was me. Luckily I still had the paperwork from the sale so that cleared it up. Moral of the story, take your tag off when you sell your car and keep those sales records.
Many states have a form the seller can (and should) submit to the DMV stating you no longer own a vehicle so they are aware even if the new buyer fails to register it.
 
Many states have a form the seller can (and should) submit to the DMV stating you no longer own a vehicle so they are aware even if the new buyer fails to register it.
Oregon does have that option. I was sent a letter informing me of a license revocation in 1980's for a car I had previously totaled and was paid off from insurance company. The car was resold and got several unpaid parking tickets in a city 90 miles away. Insurance company sent proper documentation to straighten that out for me. Now, I always go to the DMV website and inform them of a sale with date and time of sale, then wait 1 day to cancel insurance.
 
Correct, if you license is suspended in one state it is suspended in all states and this is how they track it. When your license was suspended the DMV in SC would have sent you a letter telling you it was and why. In many cases though, that kind of letter is NOT forwarded. They want it returned to them so they can flag your file that the address on your license is not current.
I never received a letter saying I was under a suspension. Also had not changed my address.
This was a true SNAFU. The policy number was correct on the police report. They must have mixed up some numbers someplace after that.
 
The "National Registry" is actually a system that has been in place for many years. It is actually named the National Law Enforcement Traffic System (NLETS). Many state, like NM, SD, AZ and others did not report to the system until a few years ago due to mainly cost in upgrading computer systems. I went to renew a few years back in Washington State and discovered that I was suspended in NM for an unpaid ticket that occured in a town I had never visited. The suspension was so old that the town could not find any documentation on it and was forced to remove it from the system. Was an interesting situation since their court was only open one day a week in the little town, Judge only available if cases were being heard and the deputy who supposedly wrote me the ticket had been retired for many yeas when NM joined the NLETS system. A true SNAFU
 

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