My “cards” come printed on a separate page when they mail my policy statement. (I decline the “electronic delivery” option so I don’t have to print them out on my own).
I trim the cards to wallet size and “laminate” them with clear packing tape.
I added an electronic version to my phone’s wallet via the AAA app, but it actually has a disclaimer that says something like “For policy information purposes only. Not official proof of insurance,” so I still carry a paper version in my wallet and glove compartment.
I’m sure I have that option, but it’s one of the few things I still prefer to get the old fashioned way. Mostly because if I have to have a paper copy of my insurance card I’d rather make them print it and send it to me than me printing it myself using my own paper and toner.
I don’t recall ever seeing plastic cards. It’s been print-'em-yourself ones for a couple decades.
As another long time State Farm customer, I too remember when the cards were plastic. If I recall the progression correctly, they were originally a fairly robust plastic - not quite a credit card but on the same material as my recent health insurance cards. Then they became this thin, plastic coated paper. If they got wet, the ink would bleed from the paper witching the moisture around under the coating. And for the last few years, just die cut paper.
I tried to google “when did State Farm stop issuing plastic auto insurance cards.” I didn’t immediately find an answer, but I did find this Reddit thread from a year ago, in which similar complaints are made:
Like some here, my auto insurance card lives in a document holder next to the registration card. I didn’t know that some carried the insurance card in their wallets.
Allstate used to have plastic cards too, way back when. Plastic gave way to thick paper with perforations probably about a decade ago.
I have the information handy (these days, on my phone) but i don’t think I’m required to carry anything.
Here is what the Ohio Revised Code says:
(A)(1) No person shall operate, or permit the operation of, a motor vehicle in this state, unless proof of financial responsibility is maintained continuously throughout the registration period with respect to that vehicle, or, in the case of a driver who is not the owner, with respect to that driver’s operation of that vehicle.
(D)(2) A peace officer shall request the owner or operator of a motor vehicle to produce proof of financial responsibility in a manner described in division (G) of this section at the time the peace officer acts to enforce the traffic laws of this state and during motor vehicle inspections conducted pursuant to section 4513.02 of the Revised Code.
(3) A peace officer shall indicate on every traffic ticket whether the person receiving the traffic ticket produced proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility in response to the officer’s request under division (D)(2) of this section. The peace officer shall inform every person who receives a traffic ticket and who has failed to produce proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility that the person must submit proof to the traffic violations bureau with any payment of a fine and costs for the ticketed violation or, if the person is to appear in court for the violation, the person must submit proof to the court.
I wonder if showing my insurance info on my cell phone app would be sufficient?
Not every state requires you to carry proof of insurance. Mine does not.
Yes, Ohio defines suitable electronic devices.
I started driving in 1997 and had Farmer’s until maybe 2017, when we switched to Geico, and then to Progressive ca. 2021. We never had plastic ID cards, only paper. With Progressive we have to print our own. Farmers and Geico sent us paper coipes but we had to cut them out of a full 8½ x 11 sheet to their intended 3x5 or 4x6.
Since we have 4 drivers on our policy it would be asinine to rely on a phone for coverage proof. I have printed ID cards paperclipped to each registration card and those live in the glove box of each vehicle. My kids know where they are if proof is ever needed.
Here in Missouri a local PD officer has been arrested and charged for copying photo from a female drivers phone. How did he get her phone? It was handed to him unlocked because her insurance card data was on it. He took it to the patrol car to run her data.
So maybe your insurance info on your phone is not a good idea.
My car has a decent-sized glovebox, but space is at more of a premium on my motorcycle. I print my cards at a slightly reduced size, then laminate them with extra wide clear tape; at the reduced size, they fit nicely into my bike’s tiny storage compartment.
Right. They’re known as “pink cards,” mainly because they’re pink, and that’s standardized for all auto insurers in Canada. For non-Canadian drivers, that means that the background is pink while the details are printed in black. Note that “card” is a misnomer because they’re nothing more than paper, but that’s how they’re known: “pink cards.”
My insurer keeps trying to get me to move everything online, and especially to my phone “to save the environment by not using paper.” I have a few problems with that: first, I don’t always have my phone with me. I don’t need it on a drive to the supermarket, for example, so I leave it at home. Anything happens on that short drive, I want proof of insurance. Paper gives me that.
Second, even when I have my phone with me, it can and has run out of juice, and I don’t typically carry a charging cord on short trips (60 miles or less), like in town or to a nearby town. Good luck showing proof of insurance to a police officer when your phone is dead.
And lastly, I’m a lawyer who has dealt with any number of debt collection matters that arose from “handshake deals.” The parties have nothing in writing, nothing to prove who agreed to what at the time, and it gets messy. An on-paper pink card is irrefutable proof that a contract (i.e. policy) exists between the insurer and the policyholder. In other words, if it ain’t on paper, it doesn’t exist.
That’s why I still want my paper pink cards.
Unfortunately this is one area where paper does fall behind digital. The pink slip proves that a contract existed at one point. Too many people would get insurance to renew their plates and then either cancel it or let it lapse. They are also trivially easy to forge. An app where you can enter the VIN and pull back a COVERED/NOT COVERED could be significantly better.
I just leave a charging cord and lighter adapter in the glove compartment. Just in case.
My phone last died in April 2013 during a trip to London.
It’s not a competition.