Insurance goes with me or the car?

[Doug Lassiter]

The appeal for extra info isn't the bothersome part.

Um, so what was? Please chill. These forums often get pretty warm.

 

[fed up]

I never implied Dementia. I was thinking more along the lines that the agency or servicer in the agency forgets about the conversation or Mom intends to call Friday evening but doesnt get around to it until Saturday afternoon. One thing I absolutely hated as an agent was someone who moved coverage on their vehicle over and over. There were too many ways for a screw up to happen. Vehickes parked in a garage and not used can sometimes drop liability and go with comprehensive in case there is a fire in the garage or something falls on the vehicle. It is just as time consuming to do the endorsement that pays nothing as it is to write a new policy and more likely to cause an E& O complaibt

 

[Doug Lassiter]

That's a fair point. This moving of coverage would just happen a couple of times a year, but one has to be VERY careful that the move was actually achieved. I would look for a confirmation e-mail from the agent that could be used as evidence, should there be an issue later. In fact, one would like to have an e-mail that would call out all the details that you could print and carry with you.

But I'm not worried about trouble for the agent. The agent is working for you. If the insurance company and agent can't manage to do what the customer wants, then they just need to shut the door on the options they are providing.

 

[Policy Monkey]

That's a fair point. This moving of coverage would just happen a couple of times a year, but one has to be VERY careful that the move was actually achieved. I would look for a confirmation e-mail from the agent that could be used as evidence, should there be an issue later. In fact, one would like to have an e-mail that would call out all the details that you could print and carry with you.

A printed out email is worthless. What you would need is documentation from the carrier (Declarations or Evidence of Insurance). In fact, most carriers have online portals where the insured can make some of these changes themselves, with instant confirmation.

But I'm not worried about trouble for the agent. The agent is working for you. If the insurance company and agent can't manage to do what the customer wants, then they just need to shut the door on the options they are providing.

You have been given "by the book" advice from multiple people, but you argue every step of the way. It sounds like you are shutting the door on yourself.

 

[Doug Lassiter]

I was never arguing. I was reaching for some answers, and when explanations weren't satisfactory, I didn't hesitate to make that point. I'm done here, and I'll thank people who actually provided info. To people who felt abused, my apologies, and I hope they take their pills.

 

[Allen Trent]

Here is my belief with what State Farm parked car coverage is being explained as:
1. the coverage is adjusted, not cancelled like you were originally asking I believe
2. It is when the car wont be used for 30 days or more
3. It removes the collision & liability, but keeps comprehensive coverage on it. So, you are still paying something when it isnt in use.

most importantly, get it in writing from the agent that State Farm knowingly approves of this situation where the car your mother owns & registers that will never be used by her & the only reason it is on the policy is for when she allows guests that may come into town to use it while they are on vacation.........my guess is the agent wont put this in writing & you might get an entirely different answer from the state farm home office underwriters & claims people that would handle a claim.. The intended usage of the vehicle is indeed important in this scenario. If it was the same son in law that came to her house weekly to drive her around to appointments, he could be added. But state farm will have no way of knowing who will be driving that car, what their driving record is, age, risk, etc

Cancelling policies puts you in the online database so best to adjust coverage down if you can while keeping it active. Otherwise, when you do want to restart a policy after a true cancellation (not adjusting coverage down to storage only/comp only) you ,may be placed into a group required to buy high risk auto insurance because of the gaps of time without insurance

Each year when new license plates or registration tabs are needed will also require the policy to be active with at least liability coverage.

ask the agent if there are any costs to make policy changes or if there is a maximum number of times a vehicle can be put in & out of storage/comp only & lastly is there a minimum number of days the policy can be active with liability before putting back in storage

 

[Doug Lassiter]

Just wanted to provide an update on this. Turns out to be trivial to manage. Our State Farm agent was happy to temporarily convert the regular insurance to "parked car" insurance, where you only pay liability for the days when it needs to be used. This is very standard procedure, and our agent has many clients who do it routinely. You just call him up, tell him that you want the insurance on hold. When you need to use the car, you call him up again, tell him the date of use, and he e-mails an official "Reinstatement of Use" form that spells it out carefully. Smart to carry that with you. When you're done using it, you just call him up again, and the "parked car" deal is restored. He didn't seem interested in knowing who was going to be driving it.

For a car that will be used a half-dozen times a year, for a week or two at a time, this is really optimal.

 

[Allen Trent]

He didn't seem interested in knowing who was going to be driving it.

Ask him to put it in writing that it doesn't matter who is driving or for how long. Otherwise, the determination of whether a claim will be paid for damage to car or medical bills or wrongful death will follow the policy language and any answers on applications or documents related to usage.

The agents don't determine if claims are paid or denied nor can they modify policy language

You will likely be fine. State Farm may have a rule on how long the car needs to be in storage as parked, ie "comprehensive only"

Try to look up on their website "parked car" to see the rules & coverage

 

[adjusterjack]

Our State Farm agent was happy to temporarily convert the regular insurance to "parked car" insurance, where you only pay liability for the days when it needs to be used. This is very standard procedure, and our agent has many clients who do it routinely. You just call him up, tell him that you want the insurance on hold. When you need to use the car, you call him up again, tell him the date of use, and he e-mails an official "Reinstatement of Use" form that spells it out carefully. Smart to carry that with you. When you're done using it, you just call him up again, and the "parked car" deal is restored. He didn't seem interested in knowing who was going to be driving it.

As a claims man and former independent agent, that "standard procedure" scares the hell out of me.

However, it's the kind of thing that State Farm does that keeps customers for life, even through times of high rates. The State Farm agent is an employee and isn't concerned with E&O because it falls back on the employer. Not likely to be an issue because State Farm is also very liberal when it comes to claims and probably wouldn't let its insured fall through the cracks without coverage.