I am 18 years old, male, clean driving record, good student, going to college. I will only be going home for occasional weekends, and vacations, and I would like to be insured so I can drive my car (saturn 2000 sl) around. I don’t want to pay for the high cost of permanent car insurance, but want to be insured when I need it.
I looked up ways to get temporary (short term) car insurance and I basically found that if you are under 21, you cannot pay daily or weekly. I also found that US insurance companies generally offer policies that are at least 6 months. Since I want tthen you can only get 6month or 1 year policies.
They suggest getting the 6 month policy and paying monthly, and then simply canceling the policy once I am done with it. Therefore if I did this, I would be buying and canceling many policies every year. I would maybe do this a few weekends every semester and also winter, spring, and summer break.
So basically I want to save money by foregoing yearly car insurance, but instead would like to do what I stated above. The big question is: IS IT WORTH IT? Ordering, and then cancelling up to six to eight 6-month policies, each paying for the first monthly payment.
Note: I currently have MetLife.
Thanks!!
When you cancel that policy early, you usually have to pay an extra month’s premium, and in some states, a flat cancellation fee. Additionally, when you go for more than 30 days without coverage, you get a higher rate when you buy your policy. Most of the time, when you buy that new policy, you have to put down two or three months premium up front. Many states, you’d have to turn in your tags, to avoid having your registration and license suspended automatically, after your insurance cancels.
If you go six months without driving your car, it’s probably worth it. If you’re talking about driving one weekend out of six or eight weeks, it’s probably NOT worth it.
Every time you get car insurance the car insurance company checks your credit reports.
At the same time – they will put an inquiry on your report.
This inquiry stays on the report for about 2 years.
A new car insurance company will see that you are monthly doing inquiries for new car insurance.
This could bring up a red flag – just to let you know.
Plus, I am pretty sure they have a way of checking up on your previous car insurance.
Better idea:
Get liability only.
You can get this for practically nothing.
Drop the full comprehensive and collission insurance.
And get a high deductible such as $1,000
This way you are covered – but if your car gets a scratch in the parking lot – you’ll have to fix it out of your own pocket.
Note: I pay about $300 every 6 months for liability only.
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Check with your parent’s insurance agent(established account) and inquire if you can secure a policy and be able to suspend it while you are away at school. Some companies allow you to do this for extra vehicles.
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In most of the U.S., it is illegal to own a car if you do not have insurance on it continuously, without interruption. Once you cancel (unless you get another policy that starts immediately, with no gap), you are not allowed to drive again, even after you get a new policy, until you pay a very large fine for not having insurance during the time between the policies. Also, getting a policy after owning a car without insurance, even for just one day, is several times more expensive than keeping a car continuously insured.
Getting what you call "permanent" insurance is the least expensive option. If you repeatedly cancel policies, and then try to get another one each time you need, then you will each policy may cost you more, just for the one month that you do have it, than it would cost to keep a policy non-stop.
The bottom line is that you cannot "save money by foregoing yearly car insurance". You will save money with what you are calling "yearly car insurance". Foregoing it will cost you more money.
P.S. Judy is wrong. Although liability only is inexpensive for someone her age and female, it is not inexpensive for someone your age and male.
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When you cancel that policy early, you usually have to pay an extra month’s premium, and in some states, a flat cancellation fee. Additionally, when you go for more than 30 days without coverage, you get a higher rate when you buy your policy. Most of the time, when you buy that new policy, you have to put down two or three months premium up front. Many states, you’d have to turn in your tags, to avoid having your registration and license suspended automatically, after your insurance cancels.
If you go six months without driving your car, it’s probably worth it. If you’re talking about driving one weekend out of six or eight weeks, it’s probably NOT worth it.
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Some of the answers given here depend on what state you live in. No one here will know the right answer for you without knowing what state you are in.
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