WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - A gap in one Wilmington woman's auto insurance sparked a series of events
that landed her in the New Hanover County Jail, and she says her situation could happen to anyone.
Jordan Reuck says the trouble began when she was pulled over twice for having an order placed to revoke her license plate.
The second time, she says the police officer took her license plate and gave her a notice, but she says she wasn't told there was a court date on it.
So when Reuck didn't show up to court, a warrant was issued for her arrest.
When Reuck signed up for her insurance policy, she says she thought she was in the clear. She purchased a policy that's supposed to automatically renew and subsequently bill her so that she doesn't have to bother doing so herself every few months.
"One of the reasons I chose the company I had was because that's one of their promises -- that that's never going to happen, because [the policy] automatically renews every six months…" said Reuck.
However, she says that didn't happen, and the company told the state her insurance had lapsed. As a result, the DMV notified authorities to confiscate her plates.
"I didn't get any notice, any envelope, any phone calls, any emails, any text messages…nothing at all," said Reuck.
After missing her court date, she did get a phone call saying there was a warrant out for her arrest. So Reuck went to directly to police headquarters to try to sort everything out.
"I got there and they processed me like a felon," she said. "Mugshots were taken."
Jeff Butler, who owns Able Auto, another insurance company in town, says if anyone's insurance lapses for any amount of time, companies are required to tell the state.
Then, the revocation order stays on the person's tags until they notify the DMV that they're covered.
"You can have an active policy and be driving around with insurance , [or] you could have paid your insurance bill but be pulled over and have your tags taken because of something that happened in the past," said Butler.
In Wilmington, if court dates are issued, they're usually printed at the very top of a citation.
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Jordan Reuck says what happened to her could happen to anyone.
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