To help address Oklahoma’s uninsured motorist problem, a contract for the new Oklahoma Compulsory Insurance Verification System (OCIVS) has been awarded and will be overseen by the Oklahoma Insurance Department. In order for the new system to produce more accurate results, Insurance Commissioner John Doak has informed all private passenger auto insurance companies in Oklahoma they are required to participate in OCIVS.
“This will go a long way toward solving Oklahoma’s uninsured driver problem,” said 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.”
OCIVS uses a web service to that allows access to the insurer’s real-time book of business. Before Senate Bill 115 was passed in 2017, insurance companies would upload data on a weekly or monthly basis. The law also transferred the insurance verification system from the supervision of the Department of Public Safety to the Oklahoma Insurance Department.
The new law 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. It also allows for license plate numbers to be used for verification.
It’s about time! What about out-of-state uninsured drivers?