From NY Post:
Residents on Staten Island are calling their state lawmakers’ offices to blow the whistle on neighbors who are illegally registering their cars out of state to save money on auto insurance.
“It drives people crazy,” said state Sen. Diane Savino (D-SI/Brooklyn). “Constituents are calling my office to report motorists who have out-of-state license plates.”
More than one in 10 vehicles owned by New York motorists ares registered out-of-state, according to New Yorkers Stand Against Insurance Fraud, an advocacy group.
Auto-insurance fraud cost New York motorists more than $200 million in 2010, according to the Insurance Information Institute. The costs of the fraud are passed along to motorists in New York through higher insurance premiums.
New York has the fourth-highest car-insurance premiums in the country. In Brooklyn, the average combined insurance premium is more than $2,000 — the highest in the state.
The out-of-state scam also costs the state and city governments tens of millions of dollars in taxes and registration, license and title fees. It is also more difficult for the city to collect parking and speeding tickets from scofflaws with out-of-state plates, officials said.
“This has been an unspoken joke,” said David Schwartz of NYSAIF. “It’s a situation that has gotten out of control and it’s unfair to law-abiding New York motorists.”
He said the rate evaders brazenly thumb their noses at the law because enforcement is non-existent.
Savino and state Sen. Jeff Klein of the Bronx (D-Bronx) are pushing a law to nail insurance scammers.
Read more at NY Post
