How do police know if you are insured? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

How do police know if you are insured?

油井緋色;1716904 said:
I've had a decent interaction with a male cop w/ a german Shepperd once. Was smoking with a friend in a parking lot, he drove by and told us "what's up?" and we said "smoking", and he replied "I'm bored, wanna pet my dog?"


Would have been a better story if it was a female cop and she asked you if you wanted to pet her cat. ba-wakka chikka wakka chikka
 
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On their own police computer system as far as I know they can only see the policy # you supplied to the MTO when you renew or 1st get your validation sticker.....Other then that they pull you over ask for your insurance paper, and call the 24 hour number on it and ask....I know this because I had an officer call to check mine while I was sitting in the back of his car... He only asked if it was a valid policy and did not tell them any reason why he was asking...
 
As far as the original question...

In a lot of cases, they probably know when the driver is handing over their info, from the look on thir face, attitude, body language, etc... I would guess that experienced cops only have to check the computer to know what exactly is wrong... not that something is.
 
As far as the original question...

In a lot of cases, they probably know when the driver is handing over their info, from the look on thir face, attitude, body language, etc... I would guess that experienced cops only have to check the computer to know what exactly is wrong... not that something is.

+1.
 
Haven't read the thread but when i got pulled over and the cop noticed that my insurance slip was expired, he called my insurance company to verify that my insurance was still intact and that i was simply missing the updated slip.

Got a ticket for it too :(
 
As far as i know they dont know when they pull you over. But they can and do check if your insurance is valid. They do that buy having dispact or themselfs call your insurer.

some cruisers have a camera, scanner. It alerts the cop there is a problem with a plate.. they must have the plate number associated with insurance policy info.. because sometimes they "do" know before the get the vehicle stopped that they have a ,, no insurance, or prohib drive ... and then they get to the drivers window.. and find out the system is not up to date,, the owner that is prohib drive is in the passenger seat . and has a valid driver .. and has current insurance..
other times, they ask dispatch to check for valid insurance,, and the only info they pass on to dispatch is the plate Whisky Tango Foxtrot ... they do check frequently,, I think they do it like radar.. they target days to look for no insurance .. and prohib driver problems
 
hello, my uncle is a cop he drives those unmarked cruisers. I once asked him he said there is no way to prove you have actual insurance or not. some people use expired slips, fake ones etc unless he calls up the insurance company there is no way for him to verify without calling.

i know what you are thinking from asking this type of questions lol
 
some cruisers have a camera, scanner. It alerts the cop there is a problem with a plate.. they must have the plate number associated with insurance policy info.. because sometimes they "do" know before the get the vehicle stopped that they have a ,, no insurance, or prohib drive ... and then they get to the drivers window.. and find out the system is not up to date,, the owner that is prohib drive is in the passenger seat . and has a valid driver .. and has current insurance..
other times, they ask dispatch to check for valid insurance,, and the only info they pass on to dispatch is the plate Whisky Tango Foxtrot ... they do check frequently,, I think they do it like radar.. they target days to look for no insurance .. and prohib driver problems

Insurance in Ontario is not linked to a license plate. If you get new plates you do not need to call your insurer. Your policy is linked to your vin.
 
Insurance in Ontario is not linked to a license plate. If you get new plates you do not need to call your insurer. Your policy is linked to your vin.

You dont think you understand... What he meant is when you go to get plates or renew the sticker for your plate, they ask you for an insurance policy # at the MTO. No insurance policy and you cant get a sticker...That policy # you give is on file in the police system as well as the MTO system..

You can register a VIN in your name as unplated without insurance, but you cant get plates without supplying a insurance policy #
 
You can register a VIN in your name as unplated without insurance, but you cant get plates without supplying a #

Fixed.

15 years of going to the MoT office to fill in the paperwork, never once asked to see the actual insurance slip I received from the insurance company. I could have just as easily made up a number or used an old one or switched a couple of numbers around ... scary.

I've never done it for sake of "karma", but whatever - point is you could pull a number out of your dead aunt's azz and *whoever* behind the counter would just plunk away at the keyboard and hand you over paperwork/plates.

And people wonder why there's so much insurance fraud?!?!??!

Pathetic.
 
Fixed.

15 years of going to the MoT office to fill in the paperwork, never once asked to see the actual insurance slip I received from the insurance company. I could have just as easily made up a number or used an old one or switched a couple of numbers around ... scary.

I've never done it for sake of "karma", but whatever - point is you could pull a number out of your dead aunt's azz and *whoever* behind the counter would just plunk away at the keyboard and hand you over paperwork/plates.

And people wonder why there's so much insurance fraud?!?!??!

Pathetic.

FYI the police have up to 2 years I believe it is to charge you with insurance fraud for doing something like supplying a fake policy number...So doing that can catch up to you...
 
FYI the police have up to 2 years I believe it is to charge you with insurance fraud for doing something like supplying a fake policy number...So doing that can catch up to you...

Read up, rip-off artists!

I play clean, but thanks for pointing that out. I enjoy disappointing officers by not giving them a reason to hand me a yellow sheet of paper or take what's mine.
 
You dont think you understand... What he meant is when you go to get plates or renew the sticker for your plate, they ask you for an insurance policy # at the MTO. No insurance policy and you cant get a sticker...That policy # you give is on file in the police system as well as the MTO system..

You can register a VIN in your name as unplated without insurance, but you cant get plates without supplying a insurance policy #

I understand that but when a cop walks up to your car a plate # does not give them any indication of whether you have insurance or not. Your insurance company does not keep your plate# on file. They'll ask for it if you're making a claim but not for general underwriting purposes.
 
I understand that but when a cop walks up to your car a plate # does not give them any indication of whether you have insurance or not. Your insurance company does not keep your plate# on file. They'll ask for it if you're making a claim but not for general underwriting purposes.

No but they do have the policy number you gave the MTO when you renewed your plate, and they get that from typing in your plate # not your VIN...I have never been asked for my VIN number in a traffic stop, everything is done off plate #

So what you said is not totally correct
"Insurance in Ontario is not linked to a license plate. If you get new plates you do not need to call your insurer. Your policy is linked to your vin."

Unless you commit fraud when you renew your plate and give a fake policy number, then yes your insurance policy is liked to your plate its all in the system. On the insurance end yes they only have your VIN, but that is a totally different thing...
 
No but they do have the policy number you gave the MTO when you renewed your plate, and they get that from typing in your plate # not your VIN...I have never been asked for my VIN number in a traffic stop, everything is done off plate #

So what you said is not totally correct
"Insurance in Ontario is not linked to a license plate. If you get new plates you do not need to call your insurer. Your policy is linked to your vin."

Unless you commit fraud when you renew your plate and give a fake policy number, then yes your insurance policy is liked to your plate its all in the system. On the insurance end yes they only have your VIN, but that is a totally different thing...

Fair enough. I don't disagree with anything that you're saying but at my company a clients policy #s can change throughout the year if information about the policy changes. Also there is nothing stopping someone from renewing their plates in Jan and switching insurance companies in Feb. Or taking a pink slip that says that they have coverage from Jan 2012 to Jan 2013 and cancelling the policy as soon as they have that slip in hand. I guess my only point is that although the plate, through the vin, is supposed to indicate that there was a policy in force on the date that the plates were renewed (even thought the MTO rarely confirms) it does not mean that there is in fact a valid policy on the vehicle when it's stopped by a cop.
 
Quite simply;

Can police find out if you're insured by running your plate? No.
Can police find out on their computers if your insurance is valid on the date in question? No.
Can police call a number to verify that a policy is in effect? Yes, but some insurers do NOT have 24 hour numbers for that type of information, but a follow up phone call during banker's hours can reveal the truth.
 
I believe there is a couple of vehicles now that are running a beta system that they are testing where they are able to check the validity or whether or not you have insurance. Probably wont be a few more years until they put them in all the cars.
 
I believe there is a couple of vehicles now that are running a beta system that they are testing where they are able to check the validity or whether or not you have insurance. Probably wont be a few more years until they put them in all the cars.

It doesn't have anytihng to do with technology in the cars. It has to do with the fact that there is no common system between insurance companies, MTO, and police services to provide current insurance information to the crusiers. No real-time database exists at this time. What Coyo said is 100% accurate.
 

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