Expired State Inspection Sticker? (Boston, Cambridge: buy, living, storage)

[LLCNYC]

Originally Posted by FCMA

Be careful in the meantime. Expired inspection sticker in Mass can now be treated as a "moving violation" point penalty by your auto insurance provider, as if you got a speeding ticket. It used to just be a $50 fine and on your way, but since the change it is both the $50 and possibly hundreds more over a year or two thanks to magnanimous Big Brother Commonwealth and insurance companies scratching each other's backs.

Yep. Get that sticker like yesterday.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I had that happen a few years ago. I was very surprised that the meter enforcement people were ticketing for that.

I actually have a friend who refuses to renew his inspection sticker until the month after it expires. His theory is that if he does this for 12 years after that time he will have basically gotten a free inspection sticker because he has stretched his stickers by one month.

I do that as well. It's a silly game I play and I've been winning at it for a couple of decades.

I usually go on the first of the following month. The problem with that is you have to wait in a long line with those OCD folks that have to get a new sticker right away.

[western mass and love it]

I've gone 6 years without an inspection sticker. It's just another way for the Commonwealth to
to fleece our pockets. Just like the excise tax.

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

I've gone 6 years without an inspection sticker. It's just another way for the Commonwealth to
to fleece our pockets. Just like the excise tax.

Good luck. You better pray you don't get into an accident or your claim could be denied.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by FCMA

Be careful in the meantime. Expired inspection sticker in Mass can now be treated as a "moving violation" point penalty by your auto insurance provider, as if you got a speeding ticket. It used to just be a $50 fine and on your way, but since the change it is both the $50 and possibly hundreds more over a year or two thanks to magnanimous Big Brother Commonwealth and insurance companies scratching each other's backs.

I got a moving violation with points on my license and the insurance hike in the early 1980's. I didn't know there was a time between then and now where "vehicle not inspected" wasn't a moving violation if you're driving the car.

[FCMA]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

I got a moving violation with points on my license and the insurance hike in the early 1980's. I didn't know there was a time between then and now where "vehicle not inspected" wasn't a moving violation if you're driving the car.

Maybe I just had a kinder insurance provider between 2000 and 2010. Seems optional whether insurance considers it a real point or not, based on my three such tickets over the last 20 years. Liberty Mutual, for example, was happy to take the state's handout and I was happy to cancel my policy with them.

[mp775]

Originally Posted by robr2

I usually go on the first of the following month. The problem with that is you have to wait in a long line with those OCD folks that have to get a new sticker right away.

More than likely it's other OCD folks whose stickers expired the previous month

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by FCMA

Maybe I just had a kinder insurance provider between 2000 and 2010. Seems optional whether insurance considers it a real point or not, based on my three such tickets over the last 20 years. Liberty Mutual, for example, was happy to take the state's handout and I was happy to cancel my policy with them.

The bigger issue is if you are involved in a collision your insurance could hypothetically deny your claim and leave you fully liable if they discover your car hasn't been inspected.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by mp775

More than likely it's other OCD folks whose stickers expired the previous month

nah - it's usually the retirees who are so excited it's inspection month and finally have something to do who are out there at 7 AM on the 1st.

[western mass and love it]

Originally Posted by Dm84

The bigger issue is if you are involved in a collision your insurance could hypothetically deny your claim and leave you fully liable if they discover your car hasn't been inspected.

There are plenty of states that have no state inspection. Connecticut only has an emissions test, I've been in two accidents in the last decade and have never been asked about an inspection sticker. And if a cop pulls you over for having an expired or no inspection sticker, you ran into a very bored cop who enjoys doing paperwork before they go home.