According to the Mass.gov webpage on ordering replacement vehicle registration plates, the state Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) “encourages vehicle owners to swap illegible plates for a set of red plates at no fee.”
As some drivers have discovered, however, having a hard-to-read Massachusetts license plate can lead to more than mere encouragement.
As noted by Kathy Cormier, Member Relations Advocate for the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA), inspection stations “are now taking pictures of all plates, and if they are faded, cracked or otherwise badly damaged, the customer will receive a rejection.”
Taking photographs of all license plates is required under an inspection system the RMV implemented last fall, as the Boston Globe reported. Forcing Massachusetts drivers to exchange illegible plates, meanwhile, is part of an RMV effort to remove no-longer-issued plates with green type and standardize state-registered vehicles with red-type plates.
But, the MAIA’s Cormier said, stations are not supposed to reject a vehicle for simply having a green license plate.
“If the client feels the green plate is not faded/cracked/damaged, they need to complete the inspection,” she wrote in an email. “If the inspection station refuses to complete the inspection, the client needs to file a complaint.”
It isn’t only owners of green-type plates who risk inspection rejection; drivers of vehicles with red-type plates can fail to pass for having an illegible plate, as well. Whether your Masschusetts license plates are green or red, if you feel an inspection station has wrongly rejected your vehicle for any reason, fill out and submit this RMV Inspection Station Complaint Form.
If you do have an illegible plate, though, it’s best to be proactive and replace it before visiting an inspection station. The aforementioned Mass.gov page on replacement plates explains the process clearly and includes a link to the downloadable RMV-3 application for new plates.
The process of exchanging old plates for new ones with different type is immediate: Visit an RMV branch, hand over the old plates, and receive new ones in return. If you’re turning in red-type plates and requesting new ones with the same numbers and/or letters, however, you’ll have to pay a $10 fee and wait for the new ones to be manufactured and delivered.
And if your inspection sticker expires before you receive your new plates? Not to worry.
“The RMV will issue you a temporary plate permit to keep in your vehicle until the [new] plates arrive,” the mass.gov page reads. “The replacement plates will be mailed to your address on record.
“You can use the temporary plate permit for an inspection if needed.”
If you have questions about business or personal Massachusetts auto insurance, we can help. Sylvia Group’s team of highly trained professionals excels at providing customers with the right policy at the best available price — often including more extensive coverage and a lower price than the client received from one of the direct sellers with the ubiquitous TV and radio ads.
By GORETE CADIEUX
Personal Insurance Account Executive, Sylvia Group
About Gorete Cadieux and Sylvia Group
With more than three decades of experience serving the personal insurance needs of Sylvia Group clients, Gorete Cadieux works with multiple companies to find the best available coverage at a price that makes the most sense for your budget. She takes a consultative approach to working with clients, enabling them to make informed, educated decisions about their insurance policies.
Sylvia Group uses SPS – the Sylvia Protection System – to empower businesses and individuals with performance-based insurance, benefits and financial planning programs. SPS makes our clients active participants in managing risk and containing premiums, resulting in coverage that is both customized and cost-effective. In addition to making a difference for our clients, we make a difference for our community as a whole by actively supporting and serving many of southern New England’s most reputable and effective nonprofit organizations and institutions. Sylvia Group became an Alera Group company at the outset of 2020, enabling us to combine the local, personal service for which we’re known with the scope and resources of a national firm.
