Dear Michael,
Yes, it is possible to lose your driver's license if you fail to pay a court judgment stemming from a car accident in which you were the uninsured driver. I am surprised that you weren't given a ticket and not surprised that the other driver's insurance company is coming to you for reimbursement for the repair of the other driver's car.
Under Minnesota law, all drivers are required to have car insurance. If your policy was in force at the time of the accident, the normal procedure would have been that the other driver's insurance policy would pay the other driver to get the car fixed and then go to you for reimbursement (when it is your fault for the accident) and that's when your insurance company would either pay it or defend you in court. Without your insurance, you are effectively on your own - to come up with the money to pay it, to negotiate a payment plan, or to defend yourself in a future lawsuit.
Under Minnesota Statutes Section 171.182, if you lose the lawsuit, you have 30 days to satisfy (pay) the judgment. If you don't pay by the 30-day deadline, the insurance company will tell the court administrator that the judgment hasn't been satisfied. The court administrator then sends a certified copy of the judgment and the insurance company's affidavit to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety commissioner (the folks who govern driver's licenses). Then, the commissioner will suspend your driver's license if two things are true:
- At the time of the accident, you did not have car insurance; and
- The judgment (about the car accident damage) has not been satisfied.
If the commissioner says these two things are true, your driver's license will be suspended until you pay the judgment in full or the judgment expires. Judgments are good for 10 years and may be renewed for another possible 10-year period. You will get notice of the suspension in writing. Other than paying the judgment, the only way the commissioner will reinstate your license is if you can prove that your car insurance company is liable for the judgment because you had an in-force insurance policy in place at the time of the accident and the policy met the minimum requirements of state law.
Thus, even though your Social Security benefits are protected from collection from an unsecured judgment-creditor, the judgment-creditor (here, the other driver's insurance company) can use this statute to encourage you to pay up or lose your license. I imagine this statute was enacted because it encourages all drivers to have insurance. Because you could lose your license, if you know you were at fault and didn't have insurance at the time, it may be best to try to negotiate a payment plan with the other driver's insurance company (and pay the payments) or otherwise finance the payment, in order to avoid the lawsuit. If the worst case scenario happens and you lose your license, do not drive. If you drive without a license, you may be charged with the crime of driving after suspension which, among other problems, makes it even more difficult to get your license back. At least with a license suspension due to non-payment of a judgment, you can get the license back when the judgment is satisfied.
