**** The information written here is not legal advice and the author of this blog is not your lawyer. These posts merely contain ideas to help you plan and organize your legal research and identify potentially helpful sources of law. ****
State auto insurance laws do require you to carry some sort of coverage on your automobile and you generally do have to prove that you are eligible to be insured in that state by providing the insurance company with documentation of your living in and, if applicable, owning a vehicle in that state. In other words, insurance companies expect that the address you list on your policy application will match the address on your automobile registration and driver’s license, both of which require you to notify state authorities when you change addresses. Also, because the insurance company has legal status as your agent in matters connected with that policy it does need to know where and how to contact you.
To obtain a driver’s license you have to show that you truly are the person you claim to be. The federal REAL ID Act requires states to cross check other identification sources when issuing driver’s licenses. A summary of that federal law is available from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty at http://www.nlchp.org/content/pubs/REAL_ID_Fact_Sheet_20083.pdf. The Department of Homeland Security has the official rule at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/08-140.htm. Each state has the flexibility to design its drivers license identification law in ways that accommodate the homeless and long distance truck drivers and others who do not reside in a fixed location. Some states, for example, accept ID verification letters from homeless service providers.
The most efficient way to find your state’s current identification rule is to contact the Department of Motor Vehicles. http://www.dmv-department-of-motor-vehicles.com/ though you might find it from the National Conference of State Legislatures’ list. http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=13574 You should be able to use e-mail to contact your DMV and simply ask what documentation they want you to bring. If you can’t get satisfaction from the DMV, get in touch with your local homeless service provider and ask that agency to help you get an address exception to obtain a driver’s license. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/directories/index.html
If your state driver’s license ID law does not yet have a way for you to obtain a license (and, secondarily, insurance), you can contact your state legislature and petition to have the law amended. The National Conference of State Legislatures has lots of REAL ID material for state legislators to read http://www.ncsl.org/Default.aspx?TabID=756&tabs=951,72,110#110 because state lawmakers have been developing these new identification laws for a couple of years.
Related sources:
The Insurance Information Institute has several helpful fact sheets about state financial responsibility laws. http://www.iii.org/factbook/pc_by_line/autolaws/ You can find an individual state’s auto insurance laws through its insurance commission. http://www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm
The Insurance Information Institute has several helpful fact sheets about state financial responsibility laws. http://www.iii.org/factbook/pc_by_line/autolaws/ You can find an individual state’s auto insurance laws through its insurance commission. http://www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm
Joe the homeless guy said
Progressive Auto Insurance allows you to use a P.O. Box. Progressive is the only auto insurance company that will do this. I just signed up at a local California office. I do not have a house or a P.O. Box. I live in my car and have now for the past two years (since the banks robbed me). The reasoning I walked in to a local office was so that I did not have to give my social security number. Ca state law does not require you to divulge your social security number.
Chris in San Jose said
Thanks for that comment! I’m in CA and will check that out. Currently I use State Farm but I think they bend the rules a bit for me, as they knew me before I was homeless. Whether they’d normally insure a homeless person, I don’t know.
Now I have to go and try to renew my driver license with the DMV … that should be fun :(
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