Making Oklahoma roads safer

Online driver insurance verification system upgraded

OKLAHOMA CITY – According to the Department of Public Safety (DPS), in 2017, around 600,000 or 26% of Oklahomans were driving without insurance, which is against the law.  In order to get more Oklahomans insured, the legislature passed and the governor signed Senate Bill 115 by Sen. Ron Sharp last year. 

“We’ve had a problem in Oklahoma because many individuals were getting their vehicle insurance to get their registration and whatever else they needed and then dropped the insurance as soon as they could. It wasn’t until they were pulled over or are in an accident that law enforcement realized they didn’t actually have insurance,” said Sharp, R-Shawnee.  “This new law and upgraded verification system will stop that and ensure law enforcement, tag agents, court clerks and others have up-to-date information available to them.”

The bill, which went into effect November 1, 2017, transferred the online Oklahoma Compulsory Insurance Verification System (OCIVS) for vehicle insurance and the Uninsured Vehicle Enforcement Program from the DPS to the Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID). 

The Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) recently awarded a contract for the new OCIVS, which will be hosted by MV Solutions, Inc., and overseen by the OID. 

“This will go a long way toward solving Oklahoma’s uninsured driver problem,” said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak. “This brings us one step closer to creating a real-time, reliable database for law enforcement officers, court clerks, district attorneys and tag agents to verify auto insurance coverage. Those trying to drive without insurance are about to get a rude awakening.”

Under the old system, companies could upload data on a weekly or monthly basis, so OCIVS users typically were not accessing current policy information. Private Oklahoma passenger auto insurance companies are now required to participate in OCIVS using the web service that allows access to the insurer’s real-time book of business.

“Once this system is up and running, we should no longer have the highest percentage of uninsured drivers in the nation,” said Sharp.  “Having this accurate, real time information will ensure that violators are held accountable and we should see the number of uninsured drivers in Oklahoma drop drastically.”                

The new law also authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to initiate an administrative proceeding against an insurance company that is not providing vehicle insurance policy information to the online verification system. Under the new system, license plate numbers will be used in the tracking of uninsured motorists.