Can insurance underwriters obtain names and addresses from the DMV?
When you purchase a car, your personal information gets registered in your state DMV. You can access your personal and driving information in your state DMV records by filling out a form and requesting for it. However, as per Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), everyone cannot access your personal information. Read on to gather information about DMV and DPPA along with knowing “Can insurance underwriters obtain names and addresses from the DMV?”
What is Driver’s Privacy Protection Act?
Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) is a federal law that regulates and restricts how DMV should release and share information contained in the records of the Department of Motor Vehicles of that state. As for example, personal information of a driver contained in DMV can only be viewed by qualified entities. The DPPA also regulates how a recipient of DMV records should share the information with others.
What is a DMV and what information appears in it?
DMV or the Department of Motor Vehicles in USA is the official agency that is in charge of issuing driving license, safety and emission inspection, registration of a car, etc. Most of the states have a Department of Motor vehicles where your personal and driving related information get stored. However, the name of a DMV may differ from one state to the other.
Usually, the following information appears in your DMV records.
Your name, date of birth and mailing address
The current status and expiration of your driver’s license
The diver license class, restrictions and endorsements
Any revocation and suspension of your driving license that include accidents, moving violation convictions, etc.
Whenever you meet an accident, it gets enlisted in the records of DMV. However, the DMV doesn’t determine who’s at fault. DMV usually keeps a record for a certain period. Your driving record gets deleted from DMV when your license expires and you don’t renew it for 5 years.
Who can get access to personal information in DMV?
In each and every state, only qualified entities can get access to the personal information in DMV records of that state. These qualified entities are attorneys, enforcement agencies, insurance companies, etc. So, if you’re wondering “Can insurance underwriters obtain names and addresses from the DMV?”, then the answer is ‘yes’. The insurance underwriters can obtain your personal and other information to calculate the risk associated with offering you an auto/car insurance policy. The personal information are name, address, driver license, telephone number, permit and identification number.
The qualified entities need to produce a DPPA permissible use in order to request other’s personal information and get access to it. They also have to complete the certification section of a form that is used to request for personal information contained in a DMV. The qualified entities can also get access to your personal inflammation by filling out the form online.