1. The Department shall verify that each motor vehicle which is registered in this State is covered by a policy of liability insurance as required by NRS 485.185.

2. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the Department may use any information to verify whether a motor vehicle is covered by a policy of liability insurance as required by NRS 485.185. The Department may not use the name of the owner of a motor vehicle as the primary means of verifying that a motor vehicle is covered by a policy of liability insurance.

3. If the Department is unable to verify that a motor vehicle is covered by a policy of liability insurance as required by NRS 485.185, the Department shall send a request for information by first-class mail to the registered owner of the motor vehicle. The owner shall submit all the information which is requested to the Department within 15 days after the date on which the request for information was mailed by the Department. If the Department does not receive the requested information within 15 days after it mailed the request to the owner, the Department shall send to the owner a notice of suspension of registration by certified mail. The notice must inform the owner that unless the Department is able to verify that the motor vehicle is covered by a policy of liability insurance as required by NRS 485.185 within 10 days after the date on which the notice was sent by the Department, the owner’s registration will be suspended pursuant to subsection 4.

4. The Department shall suspend the registration and require the return to the Department of the license plates of any vehicle for which the Department cannot verify the coverage of liability insurance required by NRS 485.185.

5. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, the Department shall reinstate the registration of the vehicle and reissue the license plates only upon verification of current insurance and compliance with the requirements for reinstatement of registration prescribed in paragraph (a) of subsection 7 of NRS 482.480.

6. If the Department suspends the registration of a motor vehicle pursuant to subsection 4 because the registered owner of the motor vehicle failed to have insurance on the date specified in the form for verification, and if the registered owner, in accordance with regulations adopted by the Department, proves to the satisfaction of the Department that the owner was unable to comply with the provisions of NRS 485.185 on that date because of extenuating circumstances or that the motor vehicle was a dormant vehicle and the owner failed to cancel the registration in accordance with subsection 3 of NRS 485.320, the Department may:

(a) Reinstate the registration of the motor vehicle and reissue the license plates upon payment by the registered owner of a fee of $50, which must be deposited in the Account for Verification of Insurance created by subsection 7 of NRS 482.480; or

(b) Remove the suspension of the registration without the payment of a fee or administrative fine.

The Department shall adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of this subsection.

(Added to NRS by 1981, 1691; A 1983, 1133; 1985, 730; 1987, 320, 686, 1097, 1499; 1989, 1262; 1993, 272, 1393, 2487; 1995, 2741; 1997, 1084, 2648; 2001, 669; 2001 Special Session, 254; 2005, 2316; 2009, 2207; 2011, 1591; 2013, 1842; 2015, 1768)