Saving Money on Auto Insurance When You Are Not Using the Car
Sensibly most drivers understand the need for a decent level of coverage. Probably the key here is the necessity and there are times that you do not need certain covers or not at all. These are great chances of economizing on insurance premiums.
If you are going away for an extended period and not using the car you could reduce your auto insurance to only limited covers. If it is not on the road you will not have accidents and therefore the risk is reduced for the insurance company. So the premium you pay should be reduced as well.
Before we go any further this only applies for people who are not going to use their car for a while. You will need to check with your state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and your insurance company before you can get this done. You might actually have to take the car off the street completely. In other words, keep it in your garage, driveway or a private property.
Your insurance company has to inform DMV when you drop the legally required minimum cover. That could cause problems for you as you seemed to be driving without insurance as far as authorities are concerned. If you do not do things correctly you might find fines sitting in your letter box when you return home.
Therefore, you need to inform your local DMV office and fill a non-operational status form. By filling this form, you are informing the department that your car is not going to be driven and parked on the streets. So you really need to find a private place to park your vehicle when you are gone.
Start the process well in advance to make sure that your form is received and processed by DMV and you complete any other requirements in time for your trip. Most auto insurance companies would be able to strip your cover to only fire and theft and reduce the premium considerably. The savings would be worth the paperwork you just need to make sure that everyone concerned knows the situation perfectly well.
Once you park your car securely, leave a key to someone you trust. It might be wise to disconnect the battery or get the car running where it is for a while periodically so that battery gets recharged. As soon as you are home revert the process to stay on the right side of the laws and get the insurance going again.
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