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State To Begin Automatically Checking For Auto Insurance

A person sits in a car
State Farm
/
Flickr via Creative Commons
Beginning next year, Illinois will verify motorists’ auto insurance electronically, something 12 other states already do. ";

Drivers in Illinois might soon have their auto insurance electronically verified in an effort to make sure every vehicle on the road is covered. But that requires a database the state doesn’t have yet.

An industry estimate shows about one out of every eight drivers have no insurance even though it’s required by law. This year, the state will begin collecting the funds to create the database.

The money isn’t coming from a new tax, said Henry Haupt, spokesperson for the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. The money is coming from a council created in the early 1990s aimed at reducing vehicle theft and insurance fraud.

“The insurance companies currently provide $1 per policy each year to the motor vehicle theft prevention fund. This new law, in 2018, will take 75 cents of that dollar and funnel that towards the creation of this electronic database and system.”

Once it’s finished, car insurance will be verified at random at least twice annually.

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