Effective Date
A very important part of purchasing a new car insurance policy is the effective date. The date that a policy becomes active makes sense to know because a driver will technically be driving illegally if their policy has not gone into effect yet.
In the United States, minimum liability coverage is required by law for drivers to have while on the road. A car needs to have some form of car insurance on it, and drivers can be given a ticket if their cars are uninsured. Avoiding a ticket is not the only reason to know the effective date of a car insurance policy, but it is a large one. Coverage is the main reason to have this date in mind.
If a driver is pulled over and found to not have insurance on their vehicle, the driver will be issued a citation for driving without insurance. These tickets are usually quite expensive and can be avoided by knowing the effective date of your car insurance policy. States require insurance because a driver is held responsible for the bills of the other party involved in a collision. This is why states impose penalties on drivers that do not have insurance. They want to protect drivers on the road financially in the case of an accident. If drivers buy an insurance policy, they can still get a ticket if they go out driving before the effective date of the policy.
Having insurance coverage is the main reason to be aware of the effective date of a car insurance policy. If a driver gets behind the wheel of their car before the effective date of their insurance, they are not officially covered in case of an accident. If a driver causes an accident before the policy becomes active, the insurance company is not responsible for helping pay any of the bills for either driver. They release this information to the driver when they sign up for the policy so the driver knows ahead of time when the car will legally be drivable.
Drivers are responsible for knowing the details of their car insurance policies. When an insurance company gives out quotes and agrees on policies, they give the driver all of the information that is needed. Drivers should ask questions of their agents if they are unsure about any aspect of their policy before getting on the road with a potentially uninsured vehicle.
The effective date of an auto policy is one of the most important bits of information to be aware of. If you are unsure of the date your insurance policy starts, contact your agent or check the dates on your insurance card.
