Date: September 23, 2021

License Plate Suspensions in Illinois

Recently, the state of Illinois has implemented a new electronic system for verifying license plates. Since the new addition was made, roughly 2,700 license plates have been suspended in the state of Illinois. The program went in affect about 2 months ago in July. Furthermore, this new system is called the Illinois Insurance Verification System. The system is designed to automatically verify that some one has the proper insurance and is randomly checked twice a year.

Get More People Insured

In recent years many states around the country have taken a similar approach to Illinois. Specifically, Illinois saw that other states were doing this to get more people insured and it was working. Before the introduction of the new system, letters were randomly sent out and it was hard for the state to keep track of. In addition, “the Secretary of State’s office randomly checked for insurance each year about 3% of the 10 million registered vehicles.”

What if I don’t Have Insurance?

In the event that you do not have insurance, there are a few things you should know. First, if you are identified by the system as not having insurance, you will receive a letter from the state. In the letter will be instructions on how to get insurance or prove the fact that you do have insurance. If you fail to get insured after the initial letter, your registration will be suspended. There is a 100-dollar fee to reinstate it and roughly 7,000 people have fell victim to this since the program was introduce July 1^st.

Who is paying for the Program?

Taxpayers can rest easy, knowing that they will not be the ones responsible to pay for the new program. Instead, insurance companies will be the one footing the bill. Many have complained that this is an overreach and is similar to spying. Lastly, since there are more drivers on the road with no insurance, people with liability only may want to upgrade to full coverage.