How long do I have to transfer plates between cars?

Q: How long do I have to transfer license plates on a car I just sold to the car I am now driving? The plates have been in my family and I don’t want to lose them! I know I can make an appointment at DMV, but I’m not sure what else I need to bring with me.

— Kathi D.

A: In Rhode Island, you cannot have an active registration without insurance. If you do, you will receive an Insurance Revocation Notice from the DMV’s Adjudication Office indicating that you are violating the law and the fee is $252.50.

The state of Rhode Island has been a compulsory insurance state, which requires all registered motor vehicles with active registrations to be covered by insurance. Legislation passed that resulted in the creation of the Rhode Island Insurance Verification System (RIIVS). This system matches existing motor vehicle insurance policies with the vehicle identification number (VIN) of actively registered motor vehicles.

If the VIN number does not match to an insurance policy for four consecutive weeks, a Request for Insurance Verification letter is generated by our system and sent to the vehicle owner. If the vehicle owner does not comply with the instructions provided in that letter, he/she will receive a Revocation Notice informing the vehicle owner that their registration will be revoked. In addition, the vehicle owner will be blocked from renewing their registrations and license.

If you are unsure when you will be able to transfer these plates to another vehicle within this time frame, I would suggest you cancel the registration for those plates to avoid the revocation fee. You can cancel the registration online (dmv.ri.gov) in our “Online Services” tab. Hold on to the plates until you’re ready to put them on another vehicle.

Chuck Hollis is assistant administrator of the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles. Please email your questions to cars@providencejournal.com with “Ask the DMV” in the subject field.