I went out tonight to get a bite to eat and I was pulled over by the local police. The reason he gave was "not enough turn signal" which I guess means it didn't blink enough prior to turning into the parking lot. After a few minutes, he comes back and says that my truck has to be towed because the registration is suspended.

What kills me is that I went to the DMV last month to register my Bronco, and ensure my truck and wifes car had no outstanding issues because I was moving that weekend to start a new job (I just retired from the Navy), and was going to be living in a hotel until I found a new place to live. I was told by the clerk that everything was good to go. I asked her to double check because I had just changed insurance policies, and I had a car impounded 8 years ago for the same reason. That's when I learned that in NY, when a policy terminates, the associated vehicle(s) registration is automatically suspended and you have to go to the DMV in person that you have insurance. She assured me that everything was fine.

So here I am, sitting in the hotel, with my truck in the parking lot, no licence plates (the cop confiscated them), with 75 fewer dollars in my pocket, and I'll be honest - I am livid. Now I have to take a day off of work to go to a court date that I shouldn't have to attend. Any suggestions on how to get my money back? Thanks for "e-listening"...

 

Before you tear someone a new one at the DMV, find out when it was suspended. If it was suspended after she said it was OK, then it's really not her fault. I would also call your insurance company and verify with them that your policy is still active.

I had a run around with the NY DMV a few years ago that would make your head spin. Someone screwed up and the DMV thought that my insurance policy was canceled. It was - three years ago. On a vehicle I didn't own any longer. After I'd already moved out of NY altogether. How would you go about proving that you didn't own a vehicle any longer that you kept up on the insurance until you registered it in another state - THREE years ago?

I didn't - let's just say I can't disclose in a public forum how I managed to resolve it. It involved photoshop.

 

Well at least you had a drivers licence,Alot of folks dont have that

 

You might check and see if NY has a site that has the laws as written listed by their
numbers. It can help to read the law that the cop wrote you up for. Their inter-
pretations of a law can sometimes differ from the actual law as written. I had
a cop pull me over for not wearing my seatbelt in my Ranchero. I looked up the
number of the law that I was being cited for. It said that pickup trucks were exempt
fron the provisions of the law. Saved me some money, P.O.'ed the judge!
The number should be on your citation.

 

I got to go to the DMV today and figure out what was going on. It turns out that my registration was suspended 3/22/06 because I ended the old policy, but for some reason they did not think I had insurance until 4/21. In any case, the "entertainment value" continued to climb when I reiterated the fact that I had gone to the DMV on two separate occasions to handle this mess. I can't prove the first visit, but since I registered my Bronco on 12/8, there was some proof that I had gone into one of the offices. Then the lady told me that my Bronco was illegally registered and I should turn those plates in. After nearly losing my mind (because I kept explaining how I asked them to check for any problems last month) I finally got new plates for my truck and I get to keep the plates for the Bronco. It still cost a lot of money because even though my truck was in my driveway while I was waiting for parts to fix it, you are supposed to turn in your plates otherwise pay $8 a day for them (if it is uninsured, which it was since I took it off of the policy while it was down), or you have to wait for 30 days, so I had to suck that up. Then I asked again on how to get my money back for the tow, and the lady said she couldn't help me. However, another one of the clerks gave me a direct phone number for the state DMV comissioner - I can't wait to see how that works out. I am pretty convinced that the DMV is the most powerful place in the state, since they don't even have a procedure in place to file a grievance or request a refund due to any sort of error. Oh well, another lesson learned I guess...

 

That's ludicrous.

I'd be moving out of that state pronto.

 

I got an idea... Call Sen. Clinton!!! Md is no better. Same happened to us years ago when we switch ins companies, took me days to straigten out. Good Luck

 

Shoot....here in MS, if you fail to pay your waste bill (for garbage pick-up), you can't buy a tag until it's paid. My g/f went round and round with the county clerk over her tag for her Nissan and the fact they hadn't sent her a garbage bill since she complained to them that the county provided container was stolen from her house.
They assumed she didn't want the service, canceled it and then she couldn't get her tag.
After paying the disputed amount and complaining about the missing container....their answer to her? "You can use any garbage conatainer. They wil empty it."

I can't repeat what she told them.

 

i got one better for ya.
the rectal orifices that run new jersey dmv (now known as the mvc), suspended my drivers license in 2004 because of failure to register my 79 F250.
i went to the mv office, and showed them my current registration for the truck. they restored my license, then sent me a bill for $100 for reinstatement. i went back to the office, just slightly mad, and in no uncertain terms told them to cancel the charge. they agreed to.
6 month later, i find there is a bench warrant out on me, for failure to register, failure to pay, and driving without a license.
now mind you, my drivers license was just issued 2 weeks before.

as i was in the county seat, and in the courthouse on other business, i asked a superior court judge to look into it.
he took care of everything on the spot.

2 months later i get a registered letter from Allstate insurance company, stating that my insurance was canceled, because the state told them i was an unlicensed unregistered driver.

i drove directly to the state police barracks where a friend is a lieutenant, and he had another trooper friend drive/escort me to Trenton, where it took 4 hours to get everything straightened out.

and the thing that started everything??? i dropped regular registration on the 79, and put historic tags on it.

i also dropped Allstate and switched to prudential insurance, who took me in with open arms, told me Allstate was a bunch of jerks, and charged me $600 less for coverage over the course of a 1 year policy. i have been with them for going on 3 years now, and my policy cost is now down to $1,253 per year for 1 car with full coverage, and 2 trucks with liability coverage.

 

In Suffolk County NY. You have to turn in your plates before you can cancel your ins. Don't know if that holds true for the rest of the state,but that's the way it works here.
Also in down state NY a junior licenced driver can only drive to and from work alone. all other times they must be with a fully licensed driver. Upstate has different rules. Go figure. It's still the same state. Just the other day I went to transfer my plates from my truck to another vehicle. They said I couldn't do it because my truck was not inspected. Which it was. They had no record of it. I said what difference does it make the vehicle I am putting on the road has to be inspected anyway. They said sorry it doesn't work that way. The part I don't understand is. Inspections are not transferable. What would it matter.
Needless to say. I cover all bases when it comes to DMV. I had my old plates with me and turned them in. I was then issued new plates for the vehicle I was putting on the road. Does this make sense to anyone out there. Maybe they just like to see their shiny new plates on every car out there. I guess thats why registations keep going up.
I was kinda fond of my old plates. I will surely miss them. The end.

Frank

 

After hearing all these stories, I guess the IL dmv is a cool place

 

The first time I had this issue (8 years ago) actually took several years for me to work out. I had received a ticket for an expired inspection, then got the impound. When I went to court, the judge magically changed things to a parking ticket (the public DA proved to the judge that my insurance was up to snuff). I paid my $25 for what I call "parking at 40 mph" and moved on.

Fast forward 3 years. I was pulled over for speeding in Georgia, in the same car. The cop asks why my license is suspended, which I have no answer. He lets my wife drive the car home. I call NY DMV, and they still have an unresolved inspection issue on record. So I pay another $25, and 6 weeks later, I received a brand new NY license with my Georgia address on it!

Today, when everything was cleared up, the clerk says to me: "Well at least you get new plates and you don't have to pay for them." This is about 5 minutes after paying $240, and I didn't think it was very funny, so I asked if I could have the license plate that was hanging on the wall behind her because it was stamped with the numbers upside down. Then she says "Normally plates like that don't make it out of the prison, and if we get one, we are supposed to destroy them. But let's face it, who's gonna get back here and take it?" That's when I realized that when I posted that the DMV is the most powerful place in the state, I wasn't totally correct. They are the most powerful place in the state, and they know it, and they act like it. I'm in the wrong business.

 

Well, here's what I have found with the NYS DMV around WNY: it all depends on where you go and who is running the office. Wyoming Coubty was notorious for being fussy, inflexible, and sometimes downright pi $$ y. Livingston County has always treated me as though I was a long-time friend.

Case in point: I rented a business vehicle from an individual for a few months before I decided to buy it from him (I basicly made his payment, then took it over in my name). At about the time I decided to buy the truck from him I discovered that the registration and inspection had expired two weeks after I started renting it from him.

It was a delivery truck and I drove some 600 miles a week on the delivery route..I don't know why I never got caught, but that is for another thread. When I went in to transfer the title and get it registered, I told the person that the old plates had long since expired. She asked if the previous owner might ever need them and I said "No, I don't think so." I asked if I could just use those plates since I didn't have any tools with me to take them off (a bit of a lie). She said "Sure, no problem" and she registered it eith the plates from the former owner. I tried the same thing with a pick-up my deceased uncle had owned and Wyoming County acted like Livingston had committed an act of treason...and I had to get new plates.

So I believe there are many more avenues of discretion available to them that they choose not to use.

Also, turning in your plates is ONLY mandatory if the plates are still VALID. Expired plates have no requirement to be turned in. Your insurance company LIKES to see the piece of paper from the DMV saying you did so, but that's THEIR rule, not DMV's.

I dropped Prudential because they could not understand this fact. Why should you have to pay to "store" expired plates just to satisfy some rule freak at some dumb insurance co.? I don't care if it is only a buck. That is one more buck to NYS that NYS doesn't deserve. (Ooops, was that political? Sorry!...well, only kinda sorry....maybe....a little...or maybe not!!)

 

Wow, bad stuff. I thought the California DMV was bad...now I realize they aren't that bad, just expensive Course, those older states have accumulated more laws, rules and regulations just due to having been around longer, kind of like a logjam growing on a river.

 

It's funny that you mention that, JCP - I grew up in CA before I joined the ole Canoe Club. Back then I thought they (CA DMV) were the worst, since then I have "enjoyed" many a DMV, but of them have gotten me as riled up as NY, and they've done it a few times now. In retrospect, I think I actually had fun at a CA DMV once, but that story is classified...