The Kentucky Insurance System was developed after the Kentucky General Assembly mandated that county clerks verify vehicle liability insurance coverage at the time a vehicle is registered. The Legislature also required that insurance companies licensed to sell personal vehicle liability insurance in the Commonwealth provide to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) a monthly record of all personal policies then in effect. This monthly record is the source for automatic verification of insurance coverage at the time of registration.
If an insurance company discontinues providing a record of insurance coverage for a vehicle, the vehicle is monitored by the Kentucky Insurance System. The vehicle’s registration will be canceled if a proof is not submitted by the insurance company or presented by the vehicle owner to the county clerk within a 90-day period. If proof of insurance is not provided by your company, coverage cannot be automatically verified at registration, and you will be required to present an acceptable form of proof of insurance to your county clerk for manual verification.
For insurance coverage other than personal, proof of insurance must be presented to the county clerk for manual verification. This includes commercial, self-insured, and military. For each alternate insurance form, proof of coverage expires in the Insurance System on the same date as the registration and must be verified again at renewal time each year.
For commercial coverage, the registrant must present an acceptable form of proof of insurance with a “commercial designation” and basically the same information as contained on the personal insurance card. Self-insured registrants must present authorizing documentation from the Department of Insurance. Members of the military are exempted from a requirement to obtain insurance coverage through a Kentucky company. Military registrants must submit documentation confirming active military status. If the customer is unable to provide satisfactory proof of insurance, the registration will not be completed.
Prior to insurance verification, it was possible for an uninsured vehicle owner or operator to go virtually undetected. That is no longer possible under Kentucky’s insurance verification process. Uninsured drivers will be identified and penalized according to the law.