Forum: money.stackexchange.com
Tags: <united-states><insurance><fees><car-insurance>
Title: I am thinking about cancelling my car insurance. Will there be any hidden costs down the road?
Question: I own my car outright and just moved to a large city. Public transportation and access to a roommate's car makes transportation easy. I am thinking about storing my car at my parents house and cancelling my car insurance. The car will not be driven unless I reactivate my insurance.  Are there any pitfalls involved in this I should be aware of? Will there be any reactivation fees or higher insurance fees in the future?

Answers:
sents: text: My insurer will let me suspend my insurance and park the car.
text: It costs about $1/month, but I am still covered if it gets stolen from where it sits.
text: I guess I can call and change it from suspended to not suspended once a month in their system, but I really only do it a couple of times a year for a second car.
text: Call your carrier and see if they have such a solution, perhaps it will be the best of both worlds for you.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/91/MrChrister
score: 15
sents: text: If you go a period of time without car insurance, when you want to get it again you are treated as a higher risk insuree.
text: I had that happen too me when I went back to school.
text: I got rid of the car while in school and after finally graduating, getting a job and a new car my insurance rates were quite high despite having a safe driving record.
text: They said it was because I wasn't insured for a few years.
text: I don't recall how long it took for me to get reclassified as a safe driver.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/4228/Dunk
score: 13
sents: text: If you're expecting to not use that car for a long time (several months or more), and it does not have enormous sentimental value, you should think about just selling it.
text: Cars depreciate something like 1% per month, and can degrade if they're not driven reasonably regularly, so I think the break-even is at about 6 months disuse.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/1992/poolie
score: 10
sents: text: If you are driving a roommate's car, you still need liability coverage.
text: If you injure someone, you are personally liable regardless of the car's ownership.
text: Talk to your insurance agent, they can help walk you through the options in your state.
text: You need to be meticulous about following the rules -- the DMV looks unkindly upon insurance lapses.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/1288/duffbeer703
score: 5
sents: text: Depending upon the insurance company they might want to charge you a bit extra for not having had coverage in a given amount of time.
text: But beyond that, when it comes time to get insurance again there should not be any extra fees.
text: However, if you are canceling the insurance in the middle of the period there might be some sort of fee.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/3180/anonymous
score: 2
sents: text: Depending on your state (NY is one), if you cancel your insurance, you must also turn-in your plates.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/969/warren
score: 2

Summary of the answers:
Your insurer might let you suspend your insurance. If you cancel it completely then you might be considered a high risk driver when you reactivate it. There also might be a fee for canceling in the middle of the period. In some states, if you cancel insurance, you also need to turn in your plates.
Some insurers let you suspend your insurance and park the car.  On the other hand, if you go a period of time without car insurance, when you want to get it again you are treated as a higher risk or some insurance companies might want to charge you a bit extra for not having had coverage in a given amount of time.  Also if you are canceling the insurance in the middle of the period there might be a fee. Bear in mind that if you are driving someone else’s car, you still need liability coverage, as if you injure someone, you are personally liable regardless of the car's ownership.