I’d like to store my BMW for the winter on basic storage insurance. I called GEICO to have them make the changes, and they told me I need to have liability on the car if it has license plates on it; if I do not surrender the plates to the DMV, and don’t have liability coverage on it, I can apparently be fined for this and have my license suspended, etc. The coverage with liability is significantly more expensive than the coverage I used last year, when I did the swap. The car sat without liability, but didn’t have plates on it since they were on the Subaru I drive in the winter.
What is the basic minimum coverage needed in NYS for a car that will be sitting in a garage, not driven at all, from November until May? I don’t want to surrender my plates as they are vanity plates - it seems counterproductive to surrender them and then have to pay again for them in May.
Do I just call them and tell them I surrendered the plates, and never drive it (as I planned)? What is the norm for this kind of situation? I’m sure a majority of the members on here do this every year.
If you tell them you surrendered your plates, (and didn’t), and remove liability NYS will eventually suspend your license, after you’ve accrued a nice set of fines for yourself. Just buy snow tires and drive it year round.
The issue is you have plates on it. If you have plates, you must have liability. If you don’t have plates you technically don’t need any insurance; but comp is a good thing to have. (I have comp on my Firebird and always have even though it hasn’t been driven/on the road since 2005).
I thought you could turn in your plates and the state/DMV would just store them for winter?
Plates in your possession means a minimum of liability. An agent knows the limits, and different insurers will have different rates for said coverage. Not sure of the value of your car but most (if not all) facilities do not insure your vehicle for loss (fire, collapse of roof, etc.). Take it from me, fines for uninsured vehicles add up fast and big, and in some cases can result in forfeiture of plates and leaving the vehicle unregisterable for lengthy periods of time. You have to weigh all the costs / options based on your desires.
few friends that work for GEICO locally chimed in, got it all figured out, i’m going with no collsion, but keeping liability and comp while lowering mileage. Thanks all.
Just go to the DMV and have them store your plates. They’ll give you a receipt with a number on it to give to the insurance company. I think they charge $1 (has to be cash) to store and they’ll hold them for a year or two…so plenty of time for winter. I do this every winter and for just comp my insurance is pretty much nothing for the winter months…
I have State Farm. I take the car(s) off the road every year around this time. I make a call and they reduce the coverage to fire/theft. It costs me roughly $70-$80 for insurance from November to April. I’ve been doing this for 15+ years. Never have to turn in a plate.
Not that I would ever suggest shady behavior but, the only time your insurance company has to notify the DMV is when you cancel a policy NOT when you simply modify a policy. This is what I have heard anyway. :snky:
Did they end up replacing them? Major pain in the ass and drawn out process I assume?
I have a winter car, so it doesn’t make sense for me to drive this thing year round. Also, if the BMW blows up for whatever reason it’s nice to have that cheap insurance sitting in the driveway (…ha…ha)
We have a storage facility and store about 23 cars and a couple motorcycles for the winter months. ALL cars have to have comp insurance on them to be stored. I have had my car for 6 years now with vanity plates and have had them stored for the winter months at the Eastern Hills DMV with no problems, cost $1. Also make sure your car is registered while in storage, if the registration lapses while in storage it’s a PITA to re-register it when you put it back on the road in the spring. If regular plates are on the car, by law the car has to have at least liability insurance on it or you will have your license suspended if you completely cancel the insurance for the winter months and plates are not turned in.
Progressive will not remove my insurance without a faxed copy of an FS6 or a new registration showing the plate has been transferred.
Remember the good old days when we could put insurance on a car so we could get plates and then just remove the insurance and keep the plates? I thought this was America?
Just drop the plate off for $1 and put comprehensive on it. That’s what I do. You will have a credit in the DMV system that you can use to register the car in the spring.
How is everyone getting the DMV to store plates that aren’t vanity plates? I’ve always been told I have to surrender them and get new ones in the spring.