Maintaining Your Car Insurance When You Are Not Driving
There are a number of reasons why a driver may decide to quit driving a vehicle for a while. A driver may need to stay off the road due to medical reasons or may be living in a city where driving a vehicle is a costly and unnecessary luxury. However, when you need to stop driving, you should think carefully about maintaining car insurance coverage. Any gap in your coverage could lead to a costly increase in your premiums, and keeping small amounts of comprehensive coverage can be worthwhile if your car is being kept in storage, a garage, or in another location where something could potentially happen to it.
In order to keep your car legally covered and available to drive if absolutely necessary, you should keep up with the minimum coverage requirements of your state. You can find out exactly what these are by visiting your state's DMV website or by having a quick conversation with your insurance agent. You should also pay for a little bit of comprehensive coverage because this will protect your vehicle if something should happen to it while you are not driving it. Set your deductibles high for any required coverage types, but keep your deductible fairly low for your comprehensive coverage. It is important to note that if you are leasing your vehicle or buying it through a loan, you may be required to keep your comprehensive coverage at a certain level.
Call your insurance agent and explain that you are not going to be driving your car for a while. Any insurance agent should be able to recommend a few programs that can keep your rates low while maintaining car insurance coverage during your off time, and some insurance companies even have special rates designed for drivers who are taking time off. An example of such a policy is a seasonal driving policy. Seasonal coverage will only go into effect during certain months of the year and keeps coverage at a legal yet low level for the rest of the year.
Regardless of how long you are going to remain off the road, maintaining your car insurance is important. If you cannot find rates for your reduced car insurance coverage that you feel are fair, look online for car insurance quotes for the reduced coverage and be sure to speak with a few insurance agents. Ask about ways to decrease your rates while keeping your comprehensive coverage at a reasonable level. Maintaining your car insurance coverage can be easy if you understand how your coverage works and if you speak with your insurance agent to find an option that is right for you.
