Do insurers offer minimal policies for a car driven 3-4 times per year?

[ashyokami]

@resjudicata

this may make a small mess of your billing situation as noted above (with all the refunds and invoices and whatnot), so be ready for that. As long as you're prepared to pay the bills and THEN get your refunds, you'll be fine.

This is fine with me. Is this a setup where the insurance company will ask for my credit card info when I increase my coverage, and then issue me a CC refund or check when I drop it back down? So long as the net result is not paying for full coverage 100% of the time, I don't care how the billing works.

 

[paulrealh]

@calledtodiscernment So here's a weird question. We have two cars, both paid off (2002 civic, 2001 nissan frontier). The Frontier definitely needs replacing due to a $1,500 A/C estimate, but I hesitate to sell it as it is in decent condition and we occasionally need to haul stuff (mulch, furniture, etc).

One option is to buy another car for $10-15k and keep three cars for two people. I'm worried that we'd end up paying "too much" in insurance and misc. maintenance costs for the "luxury" of keeping our paid-for pickup.

The other option is to bank the ~$50/mo insurance + maintenance bills and just accept that we will have to rent a pickup truck every 3 months or have to pay $20-70 for delivery for random crap.

Advice? The "suspension/storage" adjustment sounds interesting and might help, but seems kindof annoying too (can't just drive the car around). In addition, if we were to ~suspend~ and do the reactivate rigamarole but let a third party borrow the pickup, how would that affect any accidents / claims? (ie: of the 5-10 times per year we might want to use the pickup, 2-3 of them might be to let other people use the vehicle).

--Robert

 

[calledtodiscernment]

@paulrealh It sounds like you'd benefit from dropping down to comprehensive coverage except when you're interested in using the truck. It's always worth talking to your agent to get their thoughts as well.

In addition, if we were to ~suspend~ and do the reactivate rigamarole but let a third party borrow the pickup, how would that affect any accidents / claims? (ie: of the 5-10 times per year we might want to use the pickup, 2-3 of them might be to let other people use the vehicle).

Coverages are effective as of a date and through a date. So in my hypothetical above, you would be covered for full coverage for any accidents occurring days 90-92 and days 251-253. This is true even if you don't file the claim until after dropping back to comp-only.

As to third parties, the contract issued by most insurers in most states covers damage to your vehicle even when it's driven by someone not listed on the policy. The only time this is not true is if the driver is an 'undisclosed operator' (i.e. someone who has regular access to the vehicle but is not listed on the policy).

Again, specifics vary by carrier and state, so it's always best to talk to your agent (get something in writing whenever possible) prior to making these decisions.

 

[resjudicata]

@ashyokami I know there is a company (I think progressive?) that is doing a pay as you go policy. They put a GPS in your car and charge you per mile you drive.

 

[calledtodiscernment]

@resjudicata Snapshot isn't really pay as you go. It's a telematics program that looks at driving habits including mileage, time of day you drive, hard-braking, and others. Based on the information collected, they adjust your overall rate.

 

[canadarose]

@calledtodiscernment this is correct and not as likely to save OP money versus a COMP only option discussed above.