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Auto registration and proof of insurance
11-07-2016, 05:02 PM
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#1
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 71
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Auto registration and proof of insurance
Perhaps I'm paranoid about safety, but I don't want anything in my car that has my address on it. Too many instances of cars been stolen and thieves using registration info (for address) and garage door openers to enter and burglarize homes.
Is it acceptable to keep a COPY of the registration and proof of insurance with the address blacked out? I would keep the originals at home. Even the Home button on my GPS isn't my actual address!
Have tried to Google this without any success. Maybe there's some better Googlers out there or someone who works in law enforcement or insurance industry.
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11-07-2016, 05:24 PM
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#2
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,358
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Yes.
I have always done this.
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11-07-2016, 05:26 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 8,968
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Just keep your docs in your wallet.
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11-07-2016, 05:28 PM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 14,404
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Trying to "de-link" your car from your identity/your home address seems very troublesome and not very likely to be successful. If you are like most of us, your car sometimes spends time in your driveway overnight, having a regular GD opener inside is just like leaving a front door key on the seat. Or anyone who knows where you park it when shopping, at work, etc could easily have the info you are desiring to keep from them.
I would think a more foolproof approach would be to avoid leaving a garage door opener in the car that can be used by a crook. Two ideas:
1) Get a key-fob remote that works with your door opener, then just keep it on your person. Something like this: VKtech Key "Universal" Fob Remote
2) Instead of using the standard remote in your car, use a wireless keypad that requires entry of a pass code. Something like this. Wireless Keypad
Another layer of security: Hide your registration and insurance papers. Sure, its a bit of extra hassle if you are pulled over, but there's nothing that says these need to be in your glove compartment. Cars have lots of nooks and crannies, and a crook is very unlikely to spend a lot of time looking for these papers. MAybe not much security if they've actually stolen the vehicle, but for the regular "smash and grab" job, it would work fine.
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11-07-2016, 05:38 PM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,606
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We only have key fob door openers, so this hopefully will not be an issue for us.
I got the fobs purely for the convenience, not the security.
In general, however, if my car were stolen, I guess the first thing I would do is unplug the door opener until I have time to erase the remotes's programming in the garage unit.
-gauss
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11-07-2016, 06:36 PM
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#6
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Williston, FL
Posts: 3,925
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Most documents can be stored on your phone. The cops can verify registration, no problem. Your insurance card can be kept on your phone.
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11-07-2016, 06:42 PM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 3,413
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In the old days(at least in California), the car registration was attached to the steering wheel column. Anyone could walk by and read it. No one gave it a second thought.
I wonder if the police would accept a phone image of the registration and insurance card.
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11-07-2016, 06:49 PM
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#8
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Knoxville
Posts: 369
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11-07-2016, 07:26 PM
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#9
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 4,373
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Senator
.......The cops can verify registration, no problem. Your insurance card can be kept on your phone.
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Except not here in stupid NM. Even though they can see the reg sticker (which also has your license plate number on it, so no switching), and even though they can call in and verify - they make you produce the paper copy. Even worse it has to be signed! If you can't produce it, they give you a proof of correction ticket! Total BS.
No idea if the phone ins card is acceptable, they want paper for that too.
__________________
The problem isn't artificial intelligence, it's natural stupidity.
You can't spend yourself to prosperity.
Semi-Retired 7/1/16: working part-time (60%) for now [4/24/17 changed to 80%]
Retired Aug 2, 2017; age 53
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11-08-2016, 02:17 PM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Leeward Oahu
Posts: 17,930
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 38Chevy454
Except not here in stupid NM. Even though they can see the reg sticker (which also has your license plate number on it, so no switching), and even though they can call in and verify - they make you produce the paper copy. Even worse it has to be signed! If you can't produce it, they give you a proof of correction ticket! Total BS.
No idea if the phone ins card is acceptable, they want paper for that too.
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Just another of the "No reason for it - Just our policy" typical of bureaucracy. YMMV
__________________
Ko'olau's Law -
Anything which can be used can be misused. Anything which can be misused will be.
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11-08-2016, 02:40 PM
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#11
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,346
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Rodent
Is it acceptable to keep a COPY of the registration and proof of insurance with the address blacked out?
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Call your local police department and ask. State laws vary. In MD the answer would be a resounding NO! In fact, not having both with you in the car (can be in your wallet) are separate offenses. I think a photocopy would be okay, but not with address blacked out.
There is good reason for this. At the scene of an accident the other party will of course want to know if you have insurance, even absent any question of who's fault the accident is. And at least in MD, driving without insurance is of course a violation so the responding police officer (if one is called) too needs to know if the insurance is current. Blacking out the address raises a big question mark about whose insurance card you're showing - yours or some other guy's with the same name?
When I rode a motorcycle I kept the cards in my wallet.
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When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
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11-08-2016, 02:45 PM
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#12
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,145
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobbieB
Just keep your docs in your wallet.
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That's what I do - the insurance. I'm not required to carry vehicle registration paperwork as my vehicle has a sticker (TX).
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Retired since summer 1999.
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11-08-2016, 02:56 PM
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#13
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,774
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I don't worry about this kind of crime. I never see news reports about this happening and don't know anyone that it has ever happened to. Not that it couldn't happen but surely there are easier ways to rob people. Even the Clark Howard article mentioned above says it has not happened in Atlanta.
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“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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11-08-2016, 03:14 PM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Dutchess County
Posts: 1,599
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I think an issue to be more concerned about than having your address exposed is.... when you drop you car at the repair shop or have it valet parked do you remove your house key from the key ring? Shops have been known to make copies and then rob the house at a later time.
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11-08-2016, 03:42 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,697
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Just_Steve
I think an issue to be more concerned about than having your address exposed is.... when you drop you car at the repair shop or have it valet parked do you remove your house key from the key ring? Shops have been known to make copies and then rob the house at a later time.
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When I do this, I know about it in advance so I take my spare car key and give that to the valet or mechanic while my main key ring with all my keys stays with me.
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Retired in late 2008 at age 45. Cashed in company stock, bought a lot of shares in a big bond fund and am living nicely off its dividends. IRA, SS, and a pension await me at age 60 and later. No kids, no debts.
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11-08-2016, 04:12 PM
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#16
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 2,511
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As I recall we get an insurance copy without our address and a registration copy without our address on them. These are what we put in the car. The copies with our address are kept at home as backups. We don't have to make copies or blackout addresses. This all comes with the normal processing.... at least for us.
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11-08-2016, 04:20 PM
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#17
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,472
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Arizona lets me keep my insurance card on my tablet.
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For me experiences are not good or bad, just different
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11-08-2016, 07:26 PM
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#18
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 8,327
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Oh crap. Something else to worry about.
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...with no reasonable expectation for ER, I'm just here auditing the AP class.Retired 8/1/15.
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11-08-2016, 07:48 PM
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#19
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 805
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Interesting, because I just subscribed to Clark Howard a couple days ago and this was addressed on his feed today.
>It said that Atlanta police say this particular crime is not prevalent there. His site suggests keeping a copy of registration in your wallet or on your phone and storing original at home.
Also says original of registration is rarely needed. Police check for it online.
Our registrations are in our glove compartments. Taking care of those can be tomorrow's -- or day after's ---- project.
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11-08-2016, 08:32 PM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 14,404
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If I need to produce these papers, it will be when I've been pulled over for a possible ticket or because I've been in an accident. In both cases I want things to be as simple as possible and I don't want to cause the cop any head-scratching about why my papers look funny. I sure don't want to ask them to wait while I scroll through a tablet or telephone.
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