3/2/2000 DUI / Minor

[kylezo]

What is the name of your state? California

I got a DUI when I was 15, March 2nd, 2000. I am 23 now, and it has been over 8 years since the violation. I was under the possible false impression that as a minor, after 7 years, record of this would be expunged. For my violation, I paid fines, damages, and went to a court ordered rehab program for youth, which is not unlike taking traffic school for a traffic fine. Only instead of sipping tea while reading about road rules in your home, I woke up at 5 every morning for physical training, yelling, and teamwork activities - this meaning that after following court orders, I was not found guilty of the charge since fulfilling court requirements, as with a traffic ticket. It was a 'no contest' bargain. My record has been absolutely clean since then - I have no other criminal or moving violations of any kind, no accidents, etc.

Anyways the point of this post is that my insurance company is charging me about $1600 a year for insurance, or $800 for a 6 month period, and has been for about 4 years, or as long as I can remember. About half of that is due to the DUI. It is more than a year overdue to be gone. The only reason the company knows about it is because I have been using this insurance company for 6 years - part of the process for my DUI was that I was not allowed to have my license until I was 18, which was November of 2002. In fact, when I did a quote online for the company, my premium went down to about $900 a year. So I sent them an email and they responded saying I had a DUI when I was 18, in 2002. Isn't that reverse insurance fraud?

Anyways, the crux of my question is, shouldn't my DUI have dissapeared? What is the best way to respond to the insurance company? I don't see how they can charge me for it if it's off my record now, since I have taken all legal recourse necessary as far as I know.

Thanks for your help in this matter!

Kyle

 

[seniorjudge]

Kyle, the word anyway is never plural. You sound illiterate when you use "anyways".

Okay, lecture over.

Now, you get all your info together and go have a nice and polite talk with your insurance agent. Explain to him what happened. Oftentimes, you will find them will to negotiate and correct their obvious errors. Do not use the word "fraud" when you go talk to them.

(Lecture again: What the heck does this phrase mean: Isn't that reverse insurance fraud?)

 

[kylezo]

Kyle, the word anyway is never plural. You sound illiterate when you use "anyways".

Okay, lecture over.

Now, you get all your info together and go have a nice and polite talk with your insurance agent. Explain to him what happened. Oftentimes, you will find them will to negotiate and correct their obvious errors. Do not use the word "fraud" when you go talk to them.

(Lecture again: What the heck does this phrase mean: Isn't that reverse insurance fraud?)

Thank you, I have a unique appreciation of grammar correction,being meticulous myself.

I wouldn't go yelling 'fraud' of course, but thank you for the tip.

(BTW, as long as we are correcting grammar...and this is more of a typo..."'willing' to negotiate".)

'Reverse insurance fraud', admittedly, is a bit of a joke, but the idea behind insurance fraud is to set up a situation to exploit the insurance company out of claims. In this instance, I have been taken for God knows how much money by the insurance company saying my DUI happened when I was 18. So they hike up the rates for illegitimate reasons, and that's kind of like reverse insurance fraud. Honesty, though, I just thought it was kind of clever...

Thank you for the encouragement.


P.S. I just want to clarify here: in my situation, am I not required to take further action? This DUI is ancient history to me, but I have read that there are specialty lawyers out there specifically for expungement of DUIs. Is this necessary if I was 16?

 

[CdwJava]

Your DUI is priorable for 10 years ... it stays on your DMV record for at least three. The fact you were with the same insurer meant that they were aware of the situation so they are under no legal obligation to pretend they do not know about it.

Perhaps you can court other insurance companies and see if you can get a better deal elsewhere.

- Carl

 

[kylezo]

Your DUI is priorable for 10 years ... it stays on your DMV record for at least three. The fact you were with the same insurer meant that they were aware of the situation so they are under no legal obligation to pretend they do not know about it.

Perhaps you can court other insurance companies and see if you can get a better deal elsewhere.

- Carl

I see, so when I got the DUI when I was 16, the law was 7 years, and when the law changed to 10, I presume you are saying that affects adults as well as minors - so my history got extended for 3 more years? This would mean there might be people out there that were one day away from having a clean record and going to a job interview the next day, and then the law passes and they are 3 years off again...that's crazy. But not unheard of I suppose...

I need to renew my insurance very soon and this would be an extremely important piece of info...does this automatically dissapear after the time is up? I remember being told about this all those years ago, but I was just a kid, and had no idea what was going on nor did I care.

Thank you for the info, and the help.

 

[CdwJava]

I see, so when I got the DUI when I was 16, the law was 7 years, and when the law changed to 10, I presume you are saying that affects adults as well as minors - so my history got extended for 3 more years? This would mean there might be people out there that were one day away from having a clean record and going to a job interview the next day, and then the law passes and they are 3 years off again...that's crazy. But not unheard of I suppose...

No, they ALWAYS are on your "record" ... it just means that the state can look back for 10 years when determining charging and sentencing for a new DUI. Your juvenile record is not automatically sealed at 18 - you have to go to court to do that.

How long it remains on your DMV record, I am not entirely sure these days, but i suspect it will remain there for at least three years. If you pull your DMV record you will find out, and that is what the insurance company will likely use to evaluate your record ... unless they already know about the prior DUI in which case you can't tell them to ignore that which they know.

- Carl

 

[kylezo]

Ok, when this all happened, I was told my record would be expunged in 7 years, when I was 23. Something to the effect of, a first DUI as a minor 'lasted' for 7 years. I was under the impression that the law was changed to 10 years and that's retroactive, meaning anyone with something currently in thier history was affected. Not under the impression that my record was 'sealed' at 18.

So it sounds like you are saying my record is not expunged, after the law change, for 10 years, plus what I am talking about is not expungement but 'sealing' which I have to go to court for?

What is the difference between expungement and sealing?
Why was I under the impression this would be 'gone' after 7 years...is there any accuracy to what I remember about that?
Lastly, is it even possible to get rid of this history permanently? Like perhaps if what I said before was correct about pleading no contest, and never actually being judged as guilty?

Sorry about all the questions...but this is very important to me. Thank you for your help so far, and thanks in advance for any more help!

Kyle

 

[CdwJava]

Ok, when this all happened, I was told my record would be expunged in 7 years, when I was 23.

Whoever tiold you that doesn't know what they are talking about. At the time, the lookback period for DUI priors was 7 years, but that's not the same thing as an expungement.

What is the difference between expungement and sealing?

This link can answer a number of those questions:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/other/crimlawclean.htm


- Carl

 

[kylezo]

Thanks for the link and info, Carl. You have been a great help.

So reading through this article, am I to understand that if I am correct in saying that I did not receive a 'conviction' because I plead no contest and took a diversion program, this shouldn't apply to me? Or does pleading no contest count as a conviction?

This is what I am reading:
"Diversion

If you were referred to a "diversion" program, you record will already be changed in one of two ways. If you successfully completed all of the diversion program requirements, your record should already be changed to show a dismissal. If you didn't complete your requirements or were not actually given diversion, then the conviction will be on your record."

Thanks again!

Kyle

 

[CdwJava]

That deoends ... did you successfully complete diversion? Did you return to court, have the judge reinstate and then dismiss the charges? This stuff does not just happen by itself, and if you expected it to, you probably guessed wrong.

You can check your own criminal history in CA by following the information here:

http://ag.ca.gov/fingerprints/security.php

You will have to go and get printed, pay a fee, and then wait for the results, but then you will know what the STATE lists as your criminal history.

- Carl

 

[kylezo]

Excellent advice, thanks Carl. I went to the courthouse to get all my documents and they told me to go somewhere else, because they do not have minor criminal files there. So I went to the other (historic) courthouse and for 11 bucks they printed out all my papers for me. I attended and completed the Youth Impact Program and the last letter in the documentation reflects that. However I couldn't find any sort of final status, ruling, judgement, etc. so I asked the clerk to help me translate. She told me to talk to my probation officer (!!) and I said sure, if he still lives here (he does). I went to juvenile hall (starting to get flashbacks at this point) and the clerk there told me he'd be back on Tuesday.

So that's where I stand!

Boy would I love to get this behind me. But, time is pretty much static. I guess I ought to count myself lucky for not being one of the folks that were clean for a year and then thier DUI mysteriously 'reappeared' for 2 more years!


Thanks again!

Kyle