Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 17, 1993                   TAG: 9307190259
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

UNINSURED DRIVERS' DISHONESTY COSTS REST OF US PLENTY

Of course, the price of catching, prosecuting and punishing them is built into the taxes you pay.

But there's an even more direct price.

They cost you money every time you pay your car insurance premium.

Insurance carriers can't cancel policies in mid-term, so suspended drivers are insured until their six-month policies expire.

Most drivers don't call their insurers to admit that their licenses are no longer valid.

"They don't want to call us to hang out their dirty laundry," says Terry Pemberton, the regional planning director for State Farm Insurance Co., one of the state's largest insurers.

Insurers rely on Virginia's courts to notify them when a client's license has been revoked. At renewal time, clients' applications for policies are evaluated case by case, according to Pemberton.

Some suspended drivers with a historically good record may retain their coverage, at higher cost. There is no prohibition in Virginia to keep insurers from offering policies to motorists whose licenses are suspended. Others, especially convicted DUI offenders, will have a tough time finding insurance.

Some will continue to drive, and their lack of insurance is hardly a deterrent.

"Insurance is just not on their minds," Pemberton says. "If people are comfortable driving with a suspended license, they're going to be comfortable driving without insurance."

Virginia requires insurance underwriters operating within the state to maintain an uninsured-motorist fund, and requires motorists with liability policies to subscribe to the coverage.

The state sets the rate for that premium - $26 annually, according to Pemberton.

"We lose money on that, year after year," he says. "It probably ought to be double that."

State Farm's average annual car insurance premium is $464, he said.

Pemberton says insurance carriers have the right to try to regain some of the costs from the uninsured motorist through civil court actions, but rarely do. It costs too much, and the returns are usually too small.