Lowest possible car insurance?

Question

I am going on a trip out of the country for 4 months, and my car will be parked in my parent's driveway with a cover over it the entire time. How can I find the LOWEST possible car insurance for these months? I called Progressive and the guy was a total salesman with me, saying, "Oh you need vandalism insurance, oh and you can't have vandalism insurance without collision insurance," so before I knew it, my quote was up to $120 a month. That's barely lower than the insurance I have now! How can I just get the bare minimum, state-required insurance?

I live in Nevada, by the way, if that helps.

Answer 1

I say just get liability insurance. check out www.lowermybillls.com. They have a bunch of companies listed that can help you get the lowest possible rate. You may also want to check with your company now to see if they can lower your policy for those months to just liability since it wont be driven.

Answer 2

If the car is not been driven at all - you could drop the insurance completely, but in the case of vandalism or theft, there would be no coverage.

The lowest insurance most companies offer is liability, but that is useless for you, since the car is not been driven. Liability only covers pays for the other person if the accident is your fault. But if the car is not been driven there really cannot be an accident that would be your fault.

If you think you want to be covered for theft or fire or vandalism, then you need comprehensive insurance and depending what type of car you have the amount per month may not be that great. Furthermore if you get new insurance the down payment alone would make it worthless to switch insurance companies, if you're planning to switch back when you return.

Therefore if you think your parents live in a safe area where theft and vandalism is not likely and you want to take a chance with fire, then I would just ask your current insurance company to lower your charges to just liability (even though it's not necessary - but it should meet the bare minimum state requirement) cause that way you won't have to pay a down payment for a new insurance now and also when you return, if you want to switch back.

The best companies that I have had is Wawanesa Insurance (thought I believe it's only in CA and OR) and Liberty Mutual.

Good luck.

Answer 3

First, here are your minimum insurance requirements:

Required Minimum Bodily Injury Coverage
$15,000 per person injured in any one accident and $30,000 for all persons injured in any one accident

Required Minimum Property Damage Coverage
$10,000 for injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident

Second: most polocies run for 6 months at a time. So you might need to cover for 6 months to have the coverage for the 2 months that you need it.

Third: Don't drop your insurance. It seems to make sense because you are not driving. The problem is that most insurance underwriting departments look for lapses in coverage as an indicator of a higher risk profile. Hence, you will end up losing money in the long run.

Fourth: Comprehensive insurance is the SAME as vandalism insurance (at least in 99.9% of cases involving auto insurance from an auto insurance carrier). You do not have to buy this insurance. Comprehensive insurance is less expensive, if you can buy it seperately, than collision insurance. If you can't buy it seperately (and you really want to be covered for vandalism) just put a huge deductable on the collision and a normal deductable (250 - 1000$) on the comprehensive.

Overall, I would recomend that you just put the minimum liability coverage on the vehicle. That way, if someone hapens to borrow the car, you are covered. I have worked in insurance and it is amazing how many borrowed cars get in accidents. Even if you do not give permission for a friend or family member to use the vehicle, it is considered premissive use unless you are willing to file theft charges against the friend or family.

How is that for long winded?

Answer 4

There are a lot of variables here. Nevada likely requires you maintain at least liability (and possibly personal injury) as long as the tags are active (even if not registered in NV, you will probably need to keep liability). So you will likely need to at least keep liability on it. If it is financed, your contract with the finance company mandates you keep comprehensive and collision on it as well (full coverage). Some of the better companies will let you drop collision if you or no one else will be driving the car.

The absolute cheapest way would be to see what the state you have the vehicle registered in requires. If they require liability, turn in the tags and contact your lender and get the okay to go to drop collision. Of course getting re-registered is a pain and could be costly. And if someone has to use the car in an emergency or if their car breaks down, if they are in an accident, could be some coverage concerns.

The cheapest way is probably not the safest, bite it and keep full coverage unless you have the vehicle in dead storage.

Answer 5

Whatever you do, don't go with Geico! I don't care how much lower their premiums are. The beginning of the year, some guy rear ended me. Obviously, his fault. I called Geico and they wouldn't help me at all. Since the accident wasn't my fault, I was on my own. So I had to hassle with his insurance company myself for three months. It was awful! I cancelled by insurance as soon as a could. Honestly I went to a local insurance group in my city and got a premium cheaper than Geico. It is through Progressive. If you actually have an agent and don't call them directly it works out great. You can tell your agent that you don't want extra insurance and that crap and she/he will listen.

Answer 6

Ok i dont know about you but "i switched to geico and got great savings. I live in NY..one of the highest places for car insurance. i was paying over $1000 a year for car insurance and then i got a quote from geico and it knocked me down to a little over $400 a year....now i'm pating something like $45 a month, Can't go wrong with that!...and its customizable and breaks down all the costs for you. I think you should try it.

Answer 7

With my Insurance Company they only require Comprehensive when you are gone for 30 days or more.

I go through State Farm Insurance and I live in Washington State. As for pricing I believe that it varies with what your driving record is. You might want to call an agent in your area.

Answer 8

If the car is not being driven, you can put your insurance in suspension. Usually that costs about $10/month. Can you put the car on your parent's insurance (that, of course, might depend on your age.)

Of course, if the car is just sitting there, and you do not have insurance on it now, why put insurance on it at all. Disable the car and you will not have to worry about liability. If the car is already registered, you won't have to have proof of insurance for the DMV until you get back.

Answer 9

Contact your state department of insurance. If the car isn't being driven, you don't need insurance, but you will probably have to sign some forms stating the time period when it won't be on the road. That's how it is in my state, anyway.

btw, Amica has good rates, and is a good company to deal with.

Answer 10

You should ask around about insurance that is able to cover vehicles that are not used away. Since they incur no use, many companies will insure them for a fraction of the cost. Many people that have summer homes run the same type of issue.