How do I clear my DMV record if its not mine?

Sarah9901 · #1 05-11-2009, 12:15 AM

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

I really hope this is the right forum for this, if not I am sorry. Thank you for your help in advance.

I moved here to Illinois from Kansas in June of 2008. I went to the DMV to get my license switched over. I was asked the usual questions and asked to verify my address and who I was. They asked me if I had ever had an Illinois license and I said no. I have had an Ohio and Kansas one and that is it. At that point, the lady taking care of me said "Hmm that is weird there is another (my full name) with the exact same birthday as you including the year!" At that point I thought nothing of it except to go out to the car and tell my boyfriend the oddity of that occurance.

My auto insurance was up in July but since it was Kansas based, I wanted to switch it over to Illinois insurance. I went to the insurance company my boyfriend had always used (he lived in Illinois all but 2 years of his 28 years of life). He swore up and down he always got the lowest quotes from this company. In Kansas, I paid 108 dollars for liability for 6 months. The insurance lady gave me a quote of 398 dollars and then asked why I had lied and not told her about an accident that happened in April of 2008 in Illinois. I told her I have never had an accident, and I wasn't even living in Illinois at that time. In fact I had never been to Illinois before June of 2008. I have only had one speeding ticket and that was in 1998.

After explaining this to her, she asked if I knew of X (person responsible for accident but not my name). I told her I knew of a person named X but that he lived in Ohio and was my ex husband's uncle. She had me go to the DMV and get a print out of my record. She also called my insurance company in Kansas to verify I had not had any accidents while living there. I remembered what the DMV had told me and I informed her that there is another (my name) with the same birth date, and to verify that the quote is based on my social security number as well. She told me that is what she did.

The DMV searched my name, social security and drivers license number and found no accidents or anything on my record which would have showed up during a search for insurance. They printed out a copy of my record for me and I took that back to the insurance company. Sadly, I had to bite the bullet and pay the 398. Believing the DMV when they said the lady must have put in a wrong number somewhere. (Yes I let it slide when I shouldn't have and am kicking myself for it!)

January came around and I decided to do an internet search for quotes to see who would be the cheapest, since at that time I didn't have 400 dollars.The quote I got from my current company had actually gone up. Geico ended up being the cheapest with actually more coverage than all the others. I was quoted 204, BEFORE I put in my drivers license number. Once I went to the payment section, I had to put in my license number and then my quote went up to 325.

I called Geico and talked to an extremely helpful and patient lady. She was able to give me the quoted 204 after verifying all of the information I had told her. I told about the other me and she told me to go to the DMV to get it cleared up. I was able to find out that it was a moving at fault violation with the amount of 500 dollars on it. I don't know what that means for the money part. So I paid the 204 and went on my merry way happy that I wasn't having to pay more.

I went to the DMV the next day. They once again did a search of my name, license number and social security number and once again found nothing. They told me they didn't know why it kept coming up that I have this accident on my record that they can't find.

My insurance is due once again, and I am having the SAME problem! Every place I go for a quote is quoting me incredibly high because of this accident. How do I clear this, if the DMV is saying it isn't there??

I am sorry this was so long and I do apologize if this is in the wrong section.
Thank you for your time in reading this and for any help you can give me!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

IrishNodak · #2 05-16-2009, 12:01 AM

I'm not sure what to tell you to do about your current situation. However, have you also checked your credit reports to make sure that nothing else is hurting you because of this person?

StephenH · #3 05-16-2009, 12:36 PM

Somehow it sounds like the insurance company database is not the DMV database. I wonder if that other person with the same name and birthdate had the accident and it is causing overlap. You might need to get an attorney and have them contact or send a letter to the insurance company that their databse record is wrong.

IrishNodak · #4 05-16-2009, 04:18 PM

I have a feeling that your ex's uncle has a LOT to do with this. Didn't you think that was an odd thing for her to ask? It sounds like someone who knew you well, got into an accident and used your name and info. Not necessarily with the DMV but with the other persons insurance company. Then, it would be in the insurance data base and not the DMV.

Sounds like you have some detective work to do. Good luck.

Sarah9901 · #5 05-17-2009, 03:19 AM

I pull my credit reports yearly to check (1 every 4 months to get all 3 each year). There isn't anything on there that isn't supposed to be. I was very nervous after I found out of "the other me". So far it has just been a hassle getting things like a bank account and even going to the hospital. I tell everyone that says "are you sure you don't have an account already" about the "other me" and then they input my info to a new account. I even had a problem the first time I went to Wal-Green's to get a prescription. They told me they didn't have one for me and since my face was swollen from an abcessed tooth I knew they did lol. I now have it on my acct there to have address verified every time.

The accident occured in Illinois, my ex's uncle lives in Ohio and rarely leaves his house let alone the state. I really don't think the uncle would do anything like that. My ex seems to be the only sneaky SOB in the family. My ex didn't know we were moving until May 1st. The accident was in Illinois in April. Unfortunately, my ex and I only communicate in emails and he most likely won't be forthcoming with any info or insight. He is probably a little mad at me now since he just went to court for failure to pay child support and being 11k behind.

As for the insurance company's database. Would every insurance company in the Champaign area have the same and use the same? I have gotten quotes from 10 different places, and they all say the same. The accident only comes up when the license number is put in. So they say it has something to due with the license number but the DMV still says no there is nothing on the record. I just went back this past week to see what a supervisor might be able to tell me and she told me what everyone else did, that it wasn't there.

Between Wal-Green's and the hospital and bank, I have found out this other me lives between here and Chicago. How would I go about finding out more information about this accident? Can I go to the police department hoping the accident was in their jurisdiction and maybe get a police report copy of it?

tammy8 · #6 05-17-2009, 10:29 PM

In my 14 yrs in insurance I have never witnessed DMV being wrong. And I never thought insurance database was either but I have a client who has the same name as another driver and somewhere in with the vendor info, my client is being mistaken for someone else. So far we have been working toward 4 months of trying to resolve this. However my client has no clue or connection the other guy. Stick with it until you get it resolved!