Many individuals will drop the insurance on a registered Pennsylvania vehicle but fail to surrender the plates to PennDOT, which keeps the registration on that vehicle in effect.
Those same individuals may be unaware that first party benefits will not be payable to that individual if any owned registered vehicles are not properly insured.
Section 1714 of the PA Motor Vehicle Code provides that keeping a registered vehicle without insurance prevents the owner from being able to claim first-party benefits, even if he is injured in a vehicle that carries insurance (see below).
§ 1714. Ineligible
claimants.
An owner of a currently
registered motor vehicle who does not have financial responsibility or
an operator or occupant of a recreational vehicle not intended for highway
use, motorcycle, motordriven cycle, motorized pedalcycle or like type vehicle
required to be registered under this title cannot recover first party benefits.
This provision is meant to ensure that "one may not receive medical and wage loss benefits unless he/she has the ability to provide them to another." While the law’s intent is for public financial responsibility, its application raises huge concerns for individuals who have innocently kept the tag on an inoperable or seasonal vehicle and have cancelled coverage for the duration of the repair or the off-season.
The seasonal registration of vehicles as provided for in 75 P.S. § 1307 (see below) can address some of the issues raised by this provision.
§ 1307. Period of
registration.
(a.1) Seasonal registration.--Upon
application on a form prescribed by the department, the owner or lessee
of a passenger car, recreational motor vehicle, motorcycle, truck or farm
vehicle which does not have a gross vehicle weight rating of more than
9,000 pounds may register the vehicle with the department for a period
of successive months of less than one year.
The applicant shall specify the period of months during which the vehicle shall be registered. Except when the department initially converts a currently valid annual registration to a seasonal registration, the annual fee prescribed for the vehicle by Chapter 19 (relating to fees) shall be paid in full by the applicant regardless of the number of months chosen for registration by the applicant. Upon receipt of the appropriate fee and the properly completed form, including all information required by this chapter, the department shall issue a seasonal registration that shall expire on the last day of the expiration month chosen by the registrant. No insurer of a vehicle belonging to any owner or lessee who obtains a seasonal registration and who applies for or receives a reduced automobile insurance premium on account thereof shall be required to provide any contractual coverage, whether in the form of the provision of a defense or the payment of first-party or third-party benefits or otherwise, to the owner or lessee in connection with any event occurring during that part of the year in which the vehicle is not registered; and such owner or lessee shall be treated for all purposes, including, without limitation, ascertaining rights to stack coverages and to uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, as a person who does not own that vehicle and has no duty to carry financial responsibility on it for that part of the year.
If you decide to cancel coverage on a vehicle because:
What options do you have in order to maintain first-party benefits at all times?
OPTION 1
You must send the tag back
to PennDOT immediately. This will suspend the registration and ensure that
the you are compliant with Title 75. To return the license plate, fill
out form MV-141
and send it to Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Return Tag Unit, P.O. Box 68597,
Harrisburg, PA 17106-8597. Form
MV-141 will be stamped by PennDOT upon receipt and returned to the
sender, thus evidencing receipt.
As an alternative, your client
may return the tag directly to any PennDOT agent. Please be
aware that the agent will charge an additional fee for this service.
OPTION 2
You can choose to maintain
insurance on the vehicle. If it is possible, you may reduce liability
limits to the minimum legal requirement on that vehicle only in order to
reduce the premium.
OPTION 3
If, and only if, you qualify,
you may apply to PennDOT for seasonal registration. If properly handled,
you will be able to drop Financial Responsibility during the off-season.
However, due care and diligence in choosing the new expiration date for
the registration is very important. You should be clear as to when
the registration ends and make sure the financial responsibility matches
that date. The vehicle must never be operated during the off-season.
Section 1307 will protect:
To read PennDOT’s Fact Sheet about seasonal registration, click here.
To apply for seasonal registration, click here.