Cancel insurance during storage?
 

Just got back from lunch with a friend. Told him about how I plan to store the Box for the winter (4 months). He asks: "Are you cancelling the insurance for the period?". Hmmm... Thoughts?

Well, I think most insurance companies will allow you "off the road status" but I would not cancel it since you never know what can happen.

Also, if you have a loan on the car you must have insurance.

My 911 is stored all winter and for whatever reason I leave the insurance on it.
The Boxster will come out on the really nice days.

How is your car insured?
 

I only drive my Boxster once/twice a week, and I have another car. My Boxster is insured as a second/pleasure car, and that saves me quite a bit of $. I think my max milage/yr can be about 8k or so, which is what I put on the car in 3years!


Mike

insurance sucks, such a waste of money. Truly outrageous that after 6 years I'll have paid out nearly 1/3 of the purchase of my car.
the insurance person on the phone said "you would be amazed how many people buy a car up front no financing and don't but full coverage on it".
I thought to myself is that really so crazy? I've payed out well north of 20K in insurance in the last 10 years. Numbers of claims I have filed? ZERO.

p.s.
Try leland West. They have very low insurance prices but the car has to be a garage queen.

I have State Farm. They know my car is in storage for about the next 5 months. They "cancel" the insurance except coverage for things like theft, fire, water damage, rodent damage and the like. The insurance for this time period is a fraction of the total premium ( and my premiums are low...about $800/year).

Then, when I reactive the insurance in March (with a simple phone call) they apply a "credit" for the premiums I have already paid for the next 6 month policy.

Hi,

Usually not a good idea. But, check with the Storage Facility Owner, if his Insurance would cover it, then OK. Same if you store at home, if your Homeowners Policy will cover it.

If you only drive seasonally, and limited miles, you can get very inexpensive insurance for either 6 mos. or a year.

My Boxster is insured through Leland West in Fresno, CA. I have a 5k mi./year limit (which I haven't exceeded in 2 years driving the car) and I only pay $311/yr. for Agreed Value, Full Coverage.

Anything can happen when the Car is in storage from Theft, Vandalism, Fire and such. You don't want to find out after the fact, that you weren't covered...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

just a thought:
last year i was sleeping(i had a ls1 camaro, was my baby), my sister wakes me up at 7am to tell me that our garage door fell of the track somehow and landed on my car. well 1/4panel, trunk,spoiler,and HUGE glass had to be fixed. MY OWN GARAGE where it should be SAFE!

then, the day i bring the porsche home, my sister parks her car where i usually park mine for no reason, so i just park in her space in the garage, i close the door...that day my dad was cleaning the gutters and he put the latter on the main boards on the roof of the garage, and as i closed the door from the garage door motor vibration it fell on her car messing a few things up. THANK GOD SHE PARKED IN MY SPOT....but now i had my dad take all that crap from the ceiling so no more damages i hope.

just to show u, in one place that the car should be safe ******************** happens.
so i say leave it on the car, sure ull 'waste' a few bux, but if u dont have it and somethign does happen, well....

[QUOTE=Perfectlap]insurance sucks, such a waste of money. Truly outrageous that after 6 years I'll have paid out nearly 1/3 of the purchase of my car.
the insurance person on the phone said "you would be amazed how many people buy a car up front no financing and don't but full coverage on it".
I thought to myself is that really so crazy? I've payed out well north of 20K in insurance in the last 10 years. Numbers of claims I have filed? ZERO.
[QUOTE]Aaah, but the time you don't have insurance is the time you hit someone, it's your fault and they sue the pants off of you for injuries. If you did have insurance, it would pay out about 20 times what you've paid so far. ;)

You probably don't want to "cancel" your insurance as you still want comprehensive so it's covered if the garage burns down or something. But you can save some money by taking off collision, which only is effective if you're driving the car. I'd just make sure that I'm not driving the car AT ALL before I do this.

Hi,

I hear your frustration, but you're looking at it the wrong way. The true value of Insurance isn't that you get the same $$ benefit back from it. It is from being protected if ever anything should go wrong. But, don't forget, you're actually paying for the damage done by less careful and skilled Drivers, this is a prime component of fixing the rates - actual losses.

Like a Safety Harness for a Rock Climber, if he never falls from the Cliff Face, the Safety Harness was a waste of Money, no? That's what you're essentially saying. The value to the Rock Climber is having it just in case.

If you think of it in these terms, it lessens the frustration somewhat...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Jim, you have extensive limitions with your insurance at Leland West, right? Like NO overnight parking unless in a coveraged garage. Or something like that.

Jim, i like the rock climber example. wery well put :)

The Box is insured together with another car through Geico. No loans. I don't need either for commuting (both listed as leisure cars) and this year I put 4k miles on the Box since May driving only on weekends, so I can assume 5k a year as a good estimate. The Geico deal is good (big discount) because both are insured with them. I guess I can talk to them and see if they'll offer anything for a storage scenario.

PL, I'll try Leland West. I thought that was only for classic cars. Regarding paying so much for insurance... It doesn't only cover damage to your Box. Don't overlook the liability part -- the damage you can do to others in an accident. But I agree, at some point, when a car depreciates significantly, it may not make sense to carry coverage for the car itself anymore. I stopped that on my other car years ago. If anything happens to it I'll just pay out of pocket. But you still must carry the liability part -- very important, as damaged parties can go after your assets if you're not protected enough.

So does anybody cancel insurance during storage, and if so, what's the approx value of the car? Not much to worry about liability coverage in a storage scenario, I guess. I could just cancel the Box part of the two-car policy, but I lose any coverage for it in case some crap happens to the car while stored (fire, theft, etc.), and I'll lose the two-car discount. Decisions, decisions.

Z.

Does he have to drive the car around all night if he doesn't have a garage to park it in??? ;)

I park my car overnight every night...

Darn, I type too slow. Pretty much all my points got addressed by others while I typed. :)

^ ^ ^
Check out above, don't cancel it totally.

FYI- with State Farm I do NOT lose my 2-car discount, when the Boxster is in storage with the majority of the coverage postponed until March!

bmussatti:
"FYI- with State Farm I do NOT lose my 2-car discount, when the Boxster is in storage with the majority of the coverage postponed until March!"

Thx bmus. Time to call Geico.

Do not cancel your coverage. Instead drop all the coverage except comprehensive. That way you still have current insurance, and you're insured in case something happens to the car while in storage. Plus you don't have the larger premiums you do while driving.

I do this every winter with my motorcycles.

Hi,

Not really. The car must be regularly, but not exclusively, parked in a Garage. But if Mrs. MNBoxster and I take a leisure trip, we can park it at the Hotel or B&B, etc.

No Track Events (I can get a rider on my other ins. for that), must have another primary vehicle, etc. They offer a 2500 mi. and 5k mi. policy. I always take the 5k, but I've never exceeded it or even come close.

For some, these restrictions are unpalatable, but they work for me, and the price is the best I could find. Haggerty was next, spendier, but fewer restrictions...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99