Insurance tips for taking your car off the road

You may be considering taking your vehicle off the road and into your garage. If so, there are a few insurance tips you should be aware of regarding your garaged vehicle.

Let’s start off saying that you just want to park your car without revoking your registration and/or insurance coverage. For instance, you might have a valuable car that you still wish to insure against theft or damage that might occur while parked.

Whether you are looking to insure your car, truck or RV, you may have an alternative to an all-or-nothing approach to insuring your vehicle – removing your liability and collision coverage while maintaining your comprehensive coverage.

There are a couple of key reasons why this is probably the best way to go. First, letting your insurance lapse can significantly raise your insurance rates over the long term as insurance companies often do not offer the best rates to those without prior (i.e. existing) insurance. Additionally, if you do not have comprehensive coverage and something happens to your car while parked such as fire or theft, you will have to cover those expenses out of your own pocket.

There are a couple of things you may want to consider when maintaining comprehensive-only coverage. If you remove collision and liability coverage, some states your insurance company will alert the motor vehicle authority that you have removed coverage. Your state’s motor vehicle authority (the Department of Motor Vehicles or DMV in many states) may contact you to find out why you removed your coverage without officially taking your car “off the road.” They will most likely require you to prove that you are not driving your car (which of course, could be a hassle).

Another downside to just maintaining comprehensive coverage is that you cannot legally drive your car without liability coverage. So, if you plan to drive your car for even one minute, keep your full coverage.

If you have no intent on moving your car and want to make it non-operational (thereby skipping any potential conflicts with your DMV), remember that you may be required to turn in your license plate and/or cancel your registration when your car is non-operational. Even if you do make your car non-operational, you may be able to keep your comprehensive coverage to protect your car while it sits. We suggest discussing this option with your insurance provider.

One last insurance tip – even if your car is kept in a garage, you should understand that it may not be covered by your home insurance. For instance, if your garage collapses onto your vehicle, even if you do have home insurance, your car may not be covered under that condition.

Who is Answer Financial?

In order to avoid a potential increase in your auto insurance due to lapsed coverage, or a high out-of-pocket expense due to unforeseen circumstances while your vehicle is garaged, check with the experts Answer Financial to understand your available options. On our website, you can review auto insurance quotes side-by-side from top-rated insurers, purchase policies and save often. If you have any questions, our licensed agents are standing by on chat or by phone to help. Our customers report saving an average of $565 a year on insurance.*

6 Comments

  1. Paula on September 18, 2016 at 4:49 pm

    My son got his first car..a 88firebird…want to insure while sitting an begin worked on…..not road ready..but would like to know if I can insure while doing this



  2. James Bergman on May 11, 2016 at 7:13 am

    I think it is probably better to just keep your car insurance over the winter. It just isn’t worth it to me to cancel my registration or turn in my license plates. I will also probably drive my car at some point. Maybe not often, but sometimes I have to because my wife is using the other car. Better to be prepared even if you have to pay a little more on insurance.



  3. Cheryl on May 3, 2016 at 11:33 am

    What if you were to take a 3rd vehicle off the road, as you only use it in the winter months for plowing? Sounds worth it to save $120 per month just on that 1 vehicle, vs additional registration fees when you need to put it back on the road to use it for plowing.

    What do you do in that instance? Older truck with liability only now, so what are the steps, for doing that? Is it possible, and would it save you money if you took it off insurance and turned in plates while not driving? What are the hassles when trying to then put it back on the road?

    I would assume call and add the insurance to your existing policy for the truck, but how would the RMV work? What would you do to register it then, and are the costs involved worth it in the end?

    I see your point from the article for leaving insurance on it, to protect from theft or fire.. however, if it is an older truck with minimal coverage while driving, what’s the point?

    Thanks for the help



  4. Dejan on February 24, 2016 at 3:30 pm

    Great post



  5. Anthony on April 10, 2014 at 7:24 pm

    cant im sry



  6. Anthony on April 10, 2014 at 7:23 pm

    what if you can afford insurance for a while can u take loan car off the road