Mississippi senate passed the auto insurance verification bill – a bill that was designed based on the mandatory laws in Mississippi. This was one among the several proposals that were facing a deadline.
As per the bill, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Revenue, as well as the Insurance Department will now use computer technology in their new programs to verify the liability insurance cover.
Now uninsured motorists could face different penalties that may include suspension of the driver’s license along with a fine of $500. Now the tax collectors as well as the tax assessors will have the authority to deny the license plates to vehicle owners who are uninsured.
The Senate Insurance Committee Chairman stated that this new technology will allow instant verification where they could interface with the insurance providers. There was a legislative deadline on this bill but it survived the Wednesday deadline. This was part of the general bills and constitutional amendments which had already been passed by the opposite chamber.
The testing period in the bill will begin on July1, 2012, stated Clarke. During the debate Clarke also mentioned that this would enable the 2012 legislature to review what had been passed and how far they would gotten on this. The whole system could be functioning by July 1, 2013, if everything went right, he stated.
A few changes had been made in the senate to this bill which included the removal of periodic and random checks in order to determine if the vehicle owners were insured, and also the appeal process for the alleged offenders.
However, Rep. Hank Zuber, a Republican who handled the bill in the assembly stated that the changes brought about by the senate are not likely to cause any problems.
The authority to set the fine will be given to the Department of Public Safety commissioner as per the bill. This fine could range between $50 to $500. The fees that were collected would be used to pay for the associated costs of the electronic database, which will be maintained by private contractors.
The left over money (from the fees that is collected) will then be transferred to the state fund to bring down the costs of the license plate tags.
This bill would help the responsible motorists who purchased liability insurance stated Zuber. Car tags, underinsured, and uninsured premiums can be brought down with the help of this bill, stated Zuber.
