I will be renewing my car insurance shortly(6/17/09). I was planning to get a 6 month term as I will be leaving for extended international travel(probably until aug-september 2010, starting in January of Feburary).
I just recently heard that a break in coverage can cost me more in the long run? is this true? why?
I also heard that car insurance can be canceled/pro-rated half way through the term?
If it matters I also might buy a car in New Zealand And/Or Australia.
I live in california. I have a quote for ~450$ for 6 months. My car is a 1999 Subaru impreza outback with 191k on the odo, just passed smog with flying colors and runs great. I plan on road tripping around the U.S in it before I go off internationally. I do not plan on selling the car as I will need it for graduate school.
I wouldn’t be saving a huge amount of money if I break coverage until I get back, but as a I plan on travel by backpack that extra 400-600 dollars could be almost a month in Thailand.
Thanks,
Well, you have an agent, call them and break down the scenario exactly as you have said.In a few minutes they can tell you exactly the differences.
I do not have an agent. I got the quote directly from Progressive.com and it was significantly better coverage for nearly 50% of what I was paying for insurance previously. (It probably helped that I turned 25). Since it was so much cheaper then my last agent booked rate I haven’t bothered to find one to pose this question to.
I also think an agent might have a fiscal conflict on interest for this particular question. I’d be more inclined to trust the SDMB community.
Just a point(which is valid in Ohio and perhaps CA>?)
You don’t ever want to cancel insurance totally on a car if it still has valid license plates on it. If the BMV finds out, it can cost you WAY more than what you saved on the insurance. My agent advised me how to maintain the minimum to avoid this. It was pretty low. Alternatively, you can cancel you plates as you leave, then renew them when you come back.
Sounds like you might need an agent just for the fine points necessary.
Depending on the company, if you have had tickets/accidents in the past, they may have let those slide since you are an existing customer. If you cancel and reapply, you will have to go through the process as a new customer and may not get approved.
Also, even if you haven’t had tickets/accidents, the fact that you have been free of those for so long is a good sign to the insurance company, so if you do get one/get into one then they probably would let it slide. If you re-join and then have an accident, you could immediately be classified as high risk.
I’m not sure about California law, but in Florida if you cancel the insurance on a vehicle, the state wants the plate back within 30 days.
Call Progressive -there are people on the other end of the web site. My daughter has a car insured by them and was in the same situation - going to Sri Lanka for 9 months while the car sat in a garage. The Progressive folks were very helpful and were able to get the coverage down to the “sit in a garage” rate- which was about a third of standard.
Right, they are your “agent” for this purpose.
And while I appreciate you trusting the SDMB dudes more, we don’t have every single fact needed, and the special calculator program to crunch those numbers.