Usually you have several options as regards to insurance when you sell or dispose of a vehicle. You can transfer the coverage to another car (if you are replacing the old one) or to the new owner, especially if the ownership is being handed over to a family member. Alternatively, you can cancel it and get a refund of premiums paid. Let’s have a look at all these options to see if the position will be any clearer.
It is usually pretty straightforward to transfer insurance to another vehicle. All you need to do is inform the agent of the switch over. Depending on the car taken off and the one replacing it you may need to pay a little more for the reminder or get a refund. There is usually no need to terminate the first policy and arrange a separate one, especially when the vehicles swapped are similar to each other.
Nevertheless, you should always get alternative quotes when you make changes and additional premium surprises you. Some firms don’t like certain types of automobiles and that may result in a jump in rates. You can always cancel coverage early if it is beneficial to do so or doesn’t make sense to stay with the current provider. You don’t need to worry about pre-paid premiums because you will get the money back.
If you sold a vehicle and you are not buying immediately you shouldn’t rush to dispose a policy. Carriers always check history of applicants. And a lapse in coverage can cost you more than the premium savings until then as many companies apply a surcharge for a lapse.
You may wait to replace the car with a new one if you plan to buy one shortly. If not, you may want to convert or replace it with a non-owner policy until you have another vehicle, just to avoid the lapse. If you are not planning on buying a vehicle anytime soon and not planning on driving in the US for sometime you may not worry about what happens later.
Once you dispose of a vehicle nobody can claim on its insurance even if you keep it because you lost the insurable interest on it. In other words, if it is not legally yours, you could not have suffered a loss if anything happens to it and therefore you cannot make a claim. You can only cover a car you don’t own under special circumstances.
Often families assign title of a vehicle to each other. That is when it may make sense to transfer the insurance as well. Your child may be moving out and taking the car you bought for his use as well. Then, you would probably want to assign the car title and the policy over. In such cases, you wouldn’t mind talking to the carrier and they would be happy to see you want your child remain with them. Some companies offer special discounts when another member of the family is keeping the policy or buying a separate one.
Again, you should always compare alternative quotes too. Just because an insurer has been offering great rates to you doesn’t mean that your young children would get them as well. Some of them specially try to avoid teen drivers by pricing them out. That is why children may be able to find more economical quote somewhere else.
Transferring auto insurance ownership to someone else other than family isn’t usually something most people would consider but it is allowable and doable. It is a personal arrangement that requires sharing many things about you on a proposal form. Not that it would cause much of a problem but most people wouldn’t want to explain to carriers that they want their policy handed over to another person totally unrelated.
In any case, the new keeper of the car you had until recently will have totally different zip code, driving record, credit history, age and perhaps gender that all would have to be taken into account and prepare a new quote. Then, there isn’t really much point in you getting involved at all. You might just want to cancel it if you don’t think you will need it in the near future and get the money.