# NH is the only state that does not mandate automobile insurance coverage.



## East (Nov 9, 2013)

Has anyone here used New Hampshire BMV regulations to their advantage? This would be the only state that does not mandate insurance coverage, that is, unless you're counting ridiculous BMV fees in Virginia or 30 thousand dollar insurance bonds in states like my own.

I've done a little bit of reading and have come to the conclusion that I could probably prove residency in the state simply by using a day shelter. A few states like Indiana simply require individuals at a day shelter to sign off on those staying in order to be considered a legitimate resident through the BMV.

If anyone else has some additional information on this, specifically regarding NH and proving residency in NH (or any other state) for the purpose of a license please let me know. I'm very curious. The main thing about rubber tramping that seems to put me off is the amount of expenditure required to maintain so minimizing that is something I'm exploring.


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## ByronMc (Nov 9, 2013)

The one issue I think of is,going thru another state,and the cop asks for proof of insurance. If you can't show proof,the state your in,may be able to do something. Another is,if you do have an wreck,you're fucked !


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## Joni (Nov 9, 2013)

East said:


> Has anyone here used New Hampshire BMV regulations to their advantage? This would be the only state that does not mandate insurance coverage, that is, unless you're counting ridiculous BMV fees in Virginia or 30 thousand dollar insurance bonds in states like my own.
> 
> I've done a little bit of reading and have come to the conclusion that I could probably prove residency in the state simply by using a day shelter. A few states like Indiana simply require individuals at a day shelter to sign off on those staying in order to be considered a legitimate resident through the BMV.
> 
> If anyone else has some additional information on this, specifically regarding NH and proving residency in NH (or any other state) for the purpose of a license please let me know. I'm very curious. The main thing about rubber tramping that seems to put me off is the amount of expenditure required to maintain so minimizing that is something I'm exploring.




i heard that MS has a no insurance thing too. i had to deal with the cops in a friends car years ago. the scihck is....as far as i know.... your car has to have a plate matching the car, a current smog sticker, and a current tag. all ppther things optional. i had the car ran several times by cops for gas vouchers while flying a sign. as far as i knew it had no insurance. it definitely had no radio or heater too  was terrible on hills but everclear fixes that. lol i ran this car out of the mountains to MS no real big problems while flying a sign for gas. i just gave the story that in the state of MS you were not required to have insurance then explained how it worked. they ran everything and it checked out. but my heart was thumping the whole time....

GL
-Joni


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## ByronMc (Nov 9, 2013)

Joni said:


> i heard that MS has a no insurance thing too. i had to deal with the cops in a friends car years ago. the scihck is....as far as i know.... your car has to have a plate matching the car, a current smog sticker, and a current tag. all ppther things optional. i had the car ran several times by cops for gas vouchers while flying a sign. as far as i knew it had no insurance. it definitely had no radio or heater too  was terrible on hills but everclear fixes that. lol i ran this car out of the mountains to MS no real big problems while flying a sign for gas. i just gave the story that in the state of MS you were not required to have insurance then explained how it worked. they ran everything and it checked out. but my heart was thumping the whole time....
> 
> GL
> -Joni


so,if you had insurance,you would of felt untouchable,instead of having your heart thumping


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## Joni (Nov 9, 2013)

ByronMc said:


> so,if you had insurance,you would of felt untouchable,instead of having your heart thumping


well sorta... it wasn't my car and i had no connection to it legally.... mostly was worried that the owner was gonna report it stolen if i didn't get it back in a timely manner. all in all from the Rockies mountains in Idaho area to Mississippi took about a week. i made it barely in the allotted time. but yeah cops always make me nervous. the cops thought i was driving a stolen car because of how dilapidated it was. lol


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## East (Nov 9, 2013)

ByronMc said:


> The one issue I think of is,going thru another state,and the cop asks for proof of insurance. If you can't show proof,the state your in,may be able to do something.



This is not possible due to the Freedom of Movement under United States law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_under_United_States_law

The wikipedia article does not mention automobile insurance, but there have been cases described that resulted from what you've detailed above that have been thrown out multiple times due to Freedom of Movement. This is a Supreme Court ruling so naturally all lower courts must obey even if state laws are contrarian.



ByronMc said:


> Another is,if you do have an wreck,you're fucked !



I really don't want this to turn into a debate about not carrying automobile insurance. I've already made up my mind and I'm comfortable with not carrying automobile insurance. I've already thought about the consequences and benefits thoroughly. I respect your stance, but again, I don't want this thread to be about if you should or should not carry automobile insurance. I have lengthy ethical and philosophical reasonings behind this that would probably bore everyone here to tears regardless, just don't want to get into that.

But anyway, more to the point, I just want to know about what it would take to establish residency in New Hampshire without a traditional housing arrangement. Mainly because this is required by the BMV for the purposes of obtaining a license.

Also, if anyone has established residency in another state by way of a day shelter (without actually staying nightly), I would love to hear about that experience as well.

@Joni that sounds like quite an adventure lol. Glad things worked out for you! And yeah that would be pretty rough worrying about the ride you have possibly being reported stolen. Also being profiled by cops for having a beater sucks!


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## ByronMc (Nov 10, 2013)

East said:


> This is not possible due to the Freedom of Movement under United States law.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_under_United_States_law
> 
> ...


 ...............well,if you wanna go around with out insurance,you may. but if you run into someone,who gets their car/bike wreck by you & you can't replace it,......that's on you !


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## Danno603 (Dec 15, 2013)

New Hampshirite reporting in. You don't need insurance traveling state-to-state, what was said earlier is true. I was pulled over in Florida earlier this year with a friend of mine whose NH car didn't have insurance. However, New Hampshire vehicles require inspection stickers(which you could get around by leaving the state before your 10 allotted days are up) and they're pretty in-depth. Rust on the car, check engine light, anything like that can turn you down for getting your sticker.

As for the ID situation, New Hampshire is a bitch. It usually takes 30-60 days to receive a hard-copy ID in the mail here, but they give you a paper ID that's 'supposed to work' until you get your normal one, but many places don't accept them.

You'll need some other forms of identification, I believe 2 forms (Birth Cert., SS card, older ID?) and a piece of mail addressed to you at a New Hampshire address. I'm sure there are shelters and such that would allow you to use their address for receiving your mail.


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## ByronMc (Dec 15, 2013)

Danno603 said:


> New Hampshirite reporting in. You don't need insurance traveling state-to-state, what was said earlier is true. I was pulled over in Florida earlier this year with a friend of mine whose NH car didn't have insurance. However, New Hampshire vehicles require inspection stickers(which you could get around by leaving the state before your 10 allotted days are up) and they're pretty in-depth. Rust on the car, check engine light, anything like that can turn you down for getting your sticker.
> 
> As for the ID situation, New Hampshire is a bitch. It usually takes 30-60 days to receive a hard-copy ID in the mail here, but they give you a paper ID that's 'supposed to work' until you get your normal one, but many places don't accept them.
> 
> You'll need some other forms of identification, I believe 2 forms (Birth Cert., SS card, older ID?) and a piece of mail addressed to you at a New Hampshire address. I'm sure there are shelters and such that would allow you to use their address for receiving your mail.


When the NH car was pulled,did the cop ask for proof of insurance ? and if so,were you detained,till they figured out,that they couldn't do anything ?


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## Danno603 (Dec 15, 2013)

Nope. No insurance, no detaining. I don't even think they asked about the insurance. It was in Florida headed towards I-95, one of the roads that connects I-75 to I-95, and he received a speeding ticket but that was about it. Maybe we lucked out, who 

EDIT: On second thought, there are a lot of 'snow birds' in Florida, so maybe the cop already knew about New Hampshire's car insurance policies?


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