I had a no insurance ticket in WA around 1.5 years ago, didn't pay. What will happen?

Question

I got the ticket, but I couldn't show up at the court. Then I report to them to reschedule another hearing. But I didn't get any updated letters. After that, I moved several times. I don't know what will happen. I am really scared.

Will they put me into jail?
Will I need to pay a lot of money?
What if i can't afford to pay all the fine? I'm a student.
How can I fix everything?

Please help me, i'm really scared.

I just checked my LC status, it shows my LC is valid. As below:

Valid License, Permits, and Endorsements:
(A valid license is one that is not expired, suspended, revoked, cancelled or denied. )

What's going on?

Answer 1

20 years ago in CA, the procedure was to issue a bench-warrant for your arrest, with a mailed notice. This could be cleared up with a check-in-the-mail. No court appearance was ever necessary.

Understand that if the cops have you in custody and a warrant check comes up positive, you'll probably be answering some additional questions in a more comfortable location.

Get in touch with the court clerk in the county where you failed to appear, and ask what the procedure is. Don't be afraid - they'll be very nice to you.

Answer 2

Are you sure your license hasn't been suspended yet? That might be the next step along with a warrant for your arrest. You need to contact them and get it taken care of before that happens, if it hasn't happened already.
I thought I had paid a ticket, then a month later I moved to another city. I never heard from them again.. Well 8 months later, my mom gets a letter stating that my license will be suspended if i didn't pay in 30 days and if i dont pay, they will suspend my license and put a warrant out for my arrest. We paid the ticket which was about $600 more than it was.. (or more?). Anyways, we paid it right away.
Anyways, if you are driving on a suspended license, you'll get a bigger ticket, and you'll be taken to jail. Plus your insurance might cancel you and etc. etc. ....
Plus the fact that your license was suspended will stay on your record for a long time.

So I hope I've inspired you to fix it and quick

Call the justice center or traffic court where you got the ticket and find out how much you owe and how you can fix it.

PS. A lot of time if you tell them you can't afford the big lump sum, you might be able to settle for a settlement amount, if you pay right away, or you can set up a payment plan where you pay in small increments. I did that once and they gave me a payment plan of $50 a month.. but if i missed a payment, then they'd cancel the payment plan and go ahead with it as if i'd never paid.

PS. Just so you know - I live in California. I dont know where you live but its probably all about the same.

Answer 3

I'm sorry but more than likely a warrant has been issued. At least in my state a No insurance ticket is not considered to be a moving violation, so your drivers license cannot be suspended if its not. The warrant information will only show up in the State in which it was written. Now what to do now?

Make sure you have the money to pay this in full before you call. You can call the District Court Clerks office tell them that you want to clear up the ticket you received and ask them what is the procedure for paying this off without being severed the warrant. Ask how much it is to pay the warrant off totally and ask if you have to come to court if it's been paid in full.

Most courts will not let you pay this out because a warrant was issued. If you had called before the court date you prob would have been able to. And they won't settle for a lower amount.

Answer 4

Having worked in Washington, the legislature passed a law 2 years ago about requiring an administrative hearing to suspend your license with a few exceptions. They may be looking for you. That's the least of your worries though. Call the agency that cited you and find out if the have a warrant issued. The only way to take care of it is to pay the fine and fees. It will not go away.

Answer 5

In the state in which I prosecute (not WA), if you fail to appear for your scheduled court hearing on a No Insurance/No Proof of Insurance ticket, a warrant for your arrest will be issued.

In most states, that type of charge involves a "state-only" arrest warrant, meaning (for you) that states other than WA are not alerted to the arrest warrant. However, if you are ever pulled over by a WA officer, you will be arrested.

If you live in WA, call the particular court administration office and ask to have a scheduled hearing so that the warrant can be quashed. They may tell you that the warrant will not be quashed without the consent of the DA/County Attorney. In that case, ask for that phone number and contact the prosecutor responsible for the case. Assuming that the prosecutor is a normal human being being like the rest of us, he/she will not object to quashing the warrant on the condition that you appear for the hearing. Provide your current mailing address to both the prosecutor and the deputy court administrator. Show up in court for the hearing and proceed as you wish. However, if you plead "not guilty" after the favor the prosecutor just extended, don't expect any leniency if you're found guilty after trial.

If you no longer live in WA, I would suggest contacting court administration to ask if you can plead guilty by mail. They may require you to contact the prosecutor first.

Either way, your primary goal is to get the arrest warrant, which has likely been issued, quashed.

Answer 6

that is a warrant. daily that is going with the aid of the cost is going up. He might want to call the courtroom, make an rent to work out the decide and make charge arrangements and characteristic the warrent got rid of or bypass to detention middle for some days-no large deal.

Answer 7

You probably have a warrent out for your arrest... I would avoid getting pulled over