Car Keyed, Vanity Plates Confiscated, Car Towed, Sent to Court. Very bad luck.

[Enalband24]

So I figured I would share this story as it is almost funny how ridiculous it is. Get this.

Back in March, I switched from my parents insurance to my own. Decided to go with Progressive. Like any smart, reasonable person, I overlap my coverage by 3 weeks, so I purchased my new policy 3 weeks before my old one expired. I figure, OK I'm GOOD.

So July rolls around, I get a letter from the DMV. It's a warning that my registration will be suspended on 8/22/14, due to not having any insurance. It states that my coverage ended April 18th, 2014 blah blah blah and I need to get insurance and pay $200 and my registration will not be suspended. BUT, if I did not have a lapse in coverage, send a copy of my insurance card and my case will be dropped. I'm like, OK, no problem, I'll just drop it in the mail and I'm good. I mailed the insurance card out the beginning of August.

So now September rolls around. September 6th be exact. My car gets keyed. PHENOMENAL.



Fortunately it happened at a place and time where there was only one person who could have keyed my car. So I was able to get their name, and went to the State Police, Troop L barracks in Litchfield, CT to file a police report. I get there, tell them I'm here to file a police report. They ask for my name and plate number. I'm thinking to myself, why do they need my plate number? whatever, I give it to them. About 15 minutes later, two officers come out and confirm that I'm filing a police report. They tell me they have one thing to resolve before I can file it. They tell me that my registration is suspended and that I do not have insurance. So I'm sure you can guess my attitude, OH REALLY??

So I show them my insurance card, they confirm, yup I have insurance and never had a lapse in coverage. I go and file my police report. While I was talking with the officer taking my statement, the other one comes back. He tells me that because it came up in the system and even though I have insurance, they need to tow my car, confiscate my vanity plates, and give me a court summons.

WHAT?.......My wife literally starts laughing because of how ridiculous it was. The officer taking my statement was very confused.

To add insult to injury, I had to take my own plates off and give them to the state troopers, and watch my keyed car towed out of the barracks parking lot while the towing woman chipped the crap out of my Wedssports wheels locking it down on the flatbed.

What a day.

Bottom line, Progressive sent my insurance verification to the DMV back in March. They failed to process it. I sent in my insurance card in August. DMV failed to process it a second time. CT SUCKS.

Lesson: Send all government documents via registered mail so you can prove it and make them pay.

Wasn't able to recover my vanity plates, or any money spent/lost being out of work for court. Obviously got thrown out because it was BS. So they wasted my entire day for nothing.

[Koa]

Definitely a hard, but important lesson to learn..

the government by and large is arguably the most incompetent institution in this country, if viewed as a whole specimen. The DMV, DOL are significantly dragging their performance metrics down. Incompetence and failure to adhere to policy and procedure there is rampant.

[DAEMANO]

Originally Posted by Koa

Definitely a hard, but important lesson to learn..

the government by and large is arguably the most incompetent institution in this country, if viewed as a whole specimen. The DMV, DOL are significantly dragging their performance metrics down. Incompetence and failure to adhere to policy and procedure there is rampant.

I too feel REALLY bad for the OP. He obviously didn't deserve any of this.

To your point, this is exactly why you don't view "the government" as a whole body. It's a collection of hundreds of agencies that provide civic services. These agencies policies are determined by representatives of voters. Some of these agencies are better/worse than others (NIST, NASA, etc). To make your point, you're tying a local agency (police) to a state agency (DMV) to a federal one (DOL/J). This doesn't reinforce your conclusion. I too think the DMV could be much better, but this type folksy logic (confirmation bias, false equivalence, etc.) actually allows for mistakes to be hidden and problems to not be corrected.

[Koa]

@DAEMANO, I made that distinction clear to prove a point. People's distrust in government and governance in general are exacerbated by their dealings with specific entities of the government. It's unfortunate and indeed does allow for mistakes to be hidden and problems not to be corrected.

My suggestions towards finding a solution are many and out of scope of this conversation. I've been in the field of accountancy for five short years, a lobbyist and statesman for ten, and a citizen for 24! I love our country, but good lord does some fat need to be trimmed at all levels of governance. How? Well that's a fun question..

[Enalband24]

Originally Posted by DAEMANO

I too feel REALLY bad for the OP. He obviously didn't deserve any of this.

To your point, this is exactly why you don't view "the government" as a whole body. It's a collection of hundreds of agencies that provide civic services. These agencies policies are determined by representatives of voters. Some of these agencies are better/worse than others (NIST, NASA, etc). To make your point, you're tying a local agency (police) to a state agency (DMV) to a federal one (DOL/J). This doesn't reinforce your conclusion. I too think the DMV could be much better, but this type folksy logic (confirmation bias, false equivalence, etc.) actually allows for mistakes to be hidden and problems to not be corrected.

Don't feel bad guys. It's cool, I'm over it. It is what it is. Besides, I didn't post this story for sympathy, I posted it because I thought it was a little funny. Everyone has that one ridiculous story, you know? However, I do appreciate the sympathy.

The one thing that does still bother me however, is the fact that I STILL have not been able to recover my vanity plates. Because they confiscated them, they are destroyed, then open to the public again to request. So I have to wait until they are open to the public again, and request/pay for them again. Go figure though, they are still not available, 2+ months later! The DMV is so SLOW!

[DAEMANO]

Originally Posted by Enalband24

The one thing that does still bother me however, is the fact that I STILL have not been able to recover my vanity plates. Because they confiscated them, they are destroyed, then open to the public again to request. So I have to wait until they are open to the public again, and request/pay for them again. Go figure though, they are still not available, 2+ months later! The DMV is so SLOW!

Holy crap, that really sux.

[Enalband24]

Haha. Also, forgot to mention the fact that I had a dashcam, front and rear, and it decided to malfunction that day...go figure. Would have had the guy directly in front of my rear dash cam keying my car...if only. Lastly, even though I knew who keyed my car, because I didn't have any physical evidence, police couldn't really help me.

[FRSKEV]

That's the CT DMV for you, they SUCK ASS!!! Seriously, its not the first time I've heard the same thing happening to other people.

[Enalband24]

Originally Posted by FRSKEV

That's the CT DMV for you, they SUCK ASS!!! Seriously, its not the first time I've heard the same thing happening to other people.

You're kidding me, right?

I'm saying though, I just try to avoid them as much as possible.

My favorite part was at the end, when everything was thrown out in court, everyone just pointed the finger at one another when I asked who will be compensating me for the money lost. At that point, I realized it wasn't even worth going after...gotta love it.