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What Happens to Your Car Insurance When You Move?

Posted in: Car Insurance Articles

By Clifford F. Berman
Apr 7, 2009 - 5:24:30 PM

What Happens to Your Car Insurance When You Move?

Moving across state lines is exciting. Just make sure you're bringing your car insurance along too!

One of the best thing about living in the United States is the ability to pack your bags and hop state lines without having to have permission from any major government bigwigs. Sick of living in Colorado? Move to Texas. Had enough of New England winters? Relocate to sunny California. No one's going to care-except your car insurance provider.

Did you know that every state has its own car insurance laws? What's true for drivers in Oregon doesn't necessarily apply to drivers in New York. Maximum and minimum coverage limits (the amount of money your insurance is going to pay if you're in an accident) aren't the same from the Atlantic to the Pacific. (Which doesn't entirely make sense, but there you have it.) That means that you aren't going to be able to simply pack up and leave without picking up the phone and talking to your insurance agent.

Here's what you need to know about pulling up your roots and taking your driving privileges across state lines:

1) It doesn't matter what state you live in; even if your state permits you to drive uninsured (with a huge annual fee) you still need to purchase car insurance. It protects you, your family and your assets if you're involved in an accident and will keep you from holding the bag on a bill for tens of thousands of dollars more than you have sitting around in your bank account.

2) There's no such thing as a mandatory "maximum" level of coverage. Your insurance

What are my state's minimum requirements for car insurance coverage?

Either contact your state's DMV office (or website) or hop online for an updated version of each state's car insurance requirements.

company is going to be the one to decide how high they're willing to go in terms of paying their claims. Each state does, however, have a mandatory minimum level of coverage for their drivers-and that number is different from state to state. That means if you're driving a clunker with minimum liability in New Jersey and you move to Virginia you're going to have to make sure you raise your liability coverage by at least $10,000.

Your insurance company isn't responsible for making sure you have enough coverage!

Ideally your insurance company will be able to advise you on how much insurance you're required to have; however, if you're working with a national insurer and happen to talk to a new agent they may not realize that the minimum level of coverage you had in your old home isn't good enough for your new one and issue you the policy anyway. Do your homework before you pick up the phone.

3) Do you know the difference between a "No fault" state and an "At fault" state? And did you know some states let you choose? Check out your new stomping grounds and find out what their policies are when it comes to who's going to be footing the bill before you sign on the dotted line.

4) Changing your address with the DMV isn't enough to move your coverage over. Even if you're working with a national provider like Geico, who's going to insure you regardless of what side of the country you happen to call home, you still have to pick up the phone and talk to an insurance agent to make sure your address is changed and your coverage is up to state standards.

Ideally the entire process of moving your car insurance from one state to another should take less than ten to fifteen minutes from start to finish, leaving you days free to go hunting through boxes for the plates that may or may not have liberated themselves somewhere around Los Angeles.

Happy Hunting!