Insurance Situation

Ask the Hackrs Insurance
1

There was a point in time when I was in between vehicles and being that I didn’t have a vehicle to Insure I cancelled my Insurance. Looking back at it now, I understand its the worst possible thing to do as it creates a lapse in Insurance and with it a whole lot of headache. We learn from our mistakes.

Anyways, at that time I wasn’t covered under any Insurance. What happened was that one of the ppl in my household Insurances’ (most recent to switch their policy) involuntarily added me to their policy being I’m a licensed driver with no coverage. Which means I’m paying hundreds of Dollars unnecessarily on a vehicle I’m not even driving. Anyone been in similar situation before? Do I have any recourse?

Thanks

2

Lapse in insurance means you have a road vehicle without insurance, I wouldn’t carry insurance without a vehicle either. Second paragraph is not clear. Without your own insurance, a smart thing to do is add yourself to the policy in the household. Insurance company would’ve done it eventually or worse, dropped everyone for not disclosing it.

3

Do you drive the vehicle in question that belongs in your household? Most insurance companies require if you live in a household to have the other drivers listed on the policy especially if they are family members.

Did you return the tag to the state or inform them that you no longer have a vehicle?

Who are you paying and why are you paying them if it isn’t your car and you do not drive it? Recourse from? Perhaps you can ask for the money back from whomever it is you paid.

4

Recourse from what? Call the agent, tell them you don’t live there and to remove you from the policy.

5

This is what I thought too. Apparently, it’s considered a lapse even if you dont own or lease a vehicle. Insurances always want to see continuous coverage

6

I do live there. They can add me on to a policy without asking you? I don’t use the vehicle

7

I guess I’m thinking insurance lapse from the dmv prospective, they will mess your life up unless you show them proof the plates were destroyed. insurance considers everyone with DL in the household as a potential driver and add them to the policy.

8

Had a similar situation where I sold my vehicle and wasn’t driving for a month. Wasn’t considered a lapse though since I had no vehicle. Perhaps it varies by state. No other people in household.

Have you tried to contact the insurance company/agent to see what they say?

9

Yes at the time I called a lot of Insurance Agents and they all said the same thing:They see Insurance was cancelled and therefore a lapse. My Response: “How can it be a lapse if I didn’t own a vehicle at the time??” Didnt matter. Maybe NYS is different. And apparently a Lapse is the worse thing when it comes to Insurance. Worse than an accident

1 Like
10

Why are you worried about lapse of insurance? I’ve run comparable quotes, lapse only costed me extra $40/6months. Not a big deal.

11

I guess insurance companies have abandonment issues. But if you are on someone else’s policy, shouldn’t this avoid the lapse?

12

I went for about a year without a car when I lived in the City of Chicago, but kept continuous liability coverage at the advice of a friend who was an insurance agent (not my insurance agent, btw). It was really inexpensive.

When I bought a car again I was able to get rates similar to what I had before, thanks to having continuous coverage. It would have been outrageous otherwise.

This was a number of years ago, and obviously in Illinois.

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13

I don’t understand. You don’t have a car or insurance in your name so….who or what are you paying?

14

The policy on my sibling at my residence went up because they see I’m a licensed driver with no coverage. So they added me involuntarily. Now I have to pay for his car that I didn’t even use. And yes, a substantial amount

15

I removed my wife from my policy as she wasn’t driving (taking public transport). I ran quotes and the lapse of coverage for 12 months costed me $8/m extra when adding her back on. Im sure having her on coverage for 12 months would have costed me more than that.
YMMV.
Run quotes and check.

16

have you considered buying new siblings?

JK, no you don’t have to be on the policy. Have yourself removed. Be a driver that lives on this address but is not insured. I’ve done it many times without hiccups. Makes it harder when the driver is a spouse but even then have not any issues.

17

Every individual in the same household/related family members are considered a “driver” so the main policy holder is required to add those members.

Some companies allow the policy holder to assign driver’s based on cars driven which your premium can be lowered.

Or

Do all the individuals in your family have separate insurance policies? If so, someone will have to have you on their policy or you all would be on the same policy.

Are you saying that this insurance company is penalizing you for prior lapse in coverage?

Edit: just saw that this regarding your siblings’ policy, you maybe able to call the insurance company and explain that you live at the same address but not part of the same household.

18

Well…if it was me…and i’m absolutely a selfish bastard. One could just say that it’s not your car, not your policy and therefore not your problem.

But it’s admirable that you want to help your sibling to figure this out.

19

Most companies have a product that’s like $10/mo that keeps your policy active. I can’t remember what it’s callwd but I used it in the past

1 Like
20

I dealt with a similar situation, just call and tell them to remove you. If they give you a hard time about it, I might consider shopping around, companies differ on how they handle the lapse in insurance. I just recently used a decent guide to find some good companies in NY:
https://www.johnnyjet.com/car-insurance-guides-and-resources-1/

Hopefully you can get the fees waived, good luck to ya!