DMV moving to electronic insurance verification [The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.]

May 24--CHARLESTON -- If you're getting a motor vehicle license renewal form this year in West Virginia, look closely at one section.

It asks for your NAIC number.

To the uninitiated, that stands for National Association of Insurance Commissioners number, and it's being phased into the Division of Motor Vehicles system as a means of providing police a means of instantly confirming a driver's coverage.

Once a traffic cop pulls a motorist over and runs the license number through a laptop or other wireless device, the officer can also plug in the NAIC number that is beginning to appear on insurance cards to see if the policy is intact.

"No matter when, no matter what time of day, the number can be used to immediately verify a person's insurance," DMV spokeswoman Natalie Harvey said Wednesday.

While this year's renewal forms ask for the NAIC number this year, don't fret if your latest insurance form doesn't include it.

Deputy Motor Vehicles Commissioner Steve Dale says the drop-dead date for making it mandatory is New Year's Day in 2014.

"We're not denying anyone a renewal if they don't have that number," Dale emphasized.

"When we first started, all these different forms were ordered at different times because they run out at different times."

What the DMV wants to do for now is condition drivers for the targeted date of the new program, known as the Electronic Verification Program, approved two years by the state Legislature.

Usually, in a traffic stop, the first thing an officer does is run a check on the license plate to see if it still valid, Dale said.

And then, with the five-digit NAIC number, he can link directly into a verification program and make sure the policy listed on the driver's insurance card is still intact.

"All the insurance company has to do is say yes or no," Dale said.

"We're getting it right from the horse's mouth, so to speak. It's all seamless to the law enforcement officer and all seamless to the driver."

Dale said the innovation is needed because drivers have been known to let a policy lapse, taking it out just long enough to satisfy liability coverage, or have it canceled by the carrier.

"You've got deadbeats that will go and obtain insurance and maybe two or three weeks later will cancel the policy, but you still have the insurance certificate," he said.

With an NAIC number, however, there is no way to cheat.

As a matter of convenience, Dale said, the DMV has begun to inform motorists of the coming requirement to include the NAIC number on renewal forms.

"As we have forms that require insurance information in general, we try to add that number," Dale said.

"For right now, we're not refusing anyone."

-- E-mail: mannix@

register-herald.com

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