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Old 23-09-2009, 14:31   #1
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Do Long Term Cruisers Keep Auto Insurance ?

Just wondering how many cruisers out there keep up their Auto Insurance while they are out crusing. It may be necessary in order to rent cars at your ports of call or to have on those occasions when you fly home....so maybe it is a necessary evil ?
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Old 23-09-2009, 14:54   #2
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I have to keep it, in NC you need it to have a drivers license which is a useful form of ID and in case I need to rent a car. My car in the states does not have a current tag, and is in storage!
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Old 23-09-2009, 15:02   #3
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I talked with My agent and he said if you drop it entirely while your gone, then you face much higher rates when you get back. The alternative is give your car to a family member for their use and ask them to add you to thier insurance as an 'occasional driver'. It probably won't have much impact, may be beneficial actually and you keep coverage the whole time.

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Old 23-09-2009, 15:09   #4
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Hi, we had talked with our agent and got the same advice as given by 2divers. We decided to keep one of our vehicles and are keeping it at our son's house.

As a side note, we also kept our house, so the home/landlords insurance and the vehicle insurance are with the same company/agent.

The big issue for us is that we were getting 'preferred rates', whatever that really means.... and that reapplying after being uninsured would be expensive. We ran the numbers (assuming we were given the right info) and it came out better to keep our insurance active, but with less coverage.
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Old 23-09-2009, 16:41   #5
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You can also get non-owners auto insurance, which allows you to "keep" active auto insurance at favorable rates and covers rental cars, etc. We have ours through Geico.

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Old 23-09-2009, 18:41   #6
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You can also get non-owners auto insurance, which allows you to "keep" active auto insurance at favorable rates and covers rental cars, etc. We have ours through Geico.

Mark

Thanks all ... that is pretty much what I was afraid of... Argh.. another $600-700 buck line item for the budget...


Thanks Mark... that's a great idea... I will have to check with St. Farm to see if they have such a plan too..

Cheers
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Old 23-09-2009, 18:49   #7
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Originally Posted by capcook View Post
Just wondering how many cruisers out there keep up their Auto Insurance while they are out crusing.
Like... who has a car?
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Old 23-09-2009, 19:20   #8
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Thanks all ... that is pretty much what I was afraid of... Argh.. another $600-700 buck line item for the budget...

Cheers
I was able to retain a non-moving coverage for a vehicle not in use for a fraction of that.
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Old 23-09-2009, 20:10   #9
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Car? Why would a long term cruiser need or keep a car? Just buy the short term rental insurance and be done with it...why add another line item to your monthly cruising nut? But we try and cruise as cheaply as we can.

Good Luck
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Old 23-09-2009, 20:35   #10
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Insurance? …. Philippines? … LOL...
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Old 23-09-2009, 22:35   #11
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When we got back the ins company wanted exorbitant amounts of money coz I hadn't had a car in 14 years.
I bought a 20 yr old corolla that I can afford to push off a cliff, and only carry third party. Problem solved.
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Old 23-09-2009, 22:35   #12
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Sell the car and get the kids to out you on thier insurance

What will likely happen is their insurance will drop slightly as you have a longer better driving record.. Better for them and you get to keep insurance (for free probably!)
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Old 24-09-2009, 04:01   #13
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We decided to keep ours, we still have a car, it was in my daughters care. We have stopped for a while in Jax and are presently using. Once we start back on our travels we will still maintain the insurance. The Geico people said it would be prudent to keep, car or not. Prices and availability when you want to pick it up again will be higher.
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Old 24-09-2009, 08:00   #14
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- - Insurance is a sticky subject and really depends upon your age and your future. Young cruisers with no significant assets at home can run naked and chances are they will be fine. But for the long-time cruisers with significant assets they do not want to lose, maintaining a "link" to your home country and insurance system can save significant money later. As your age increases the rates on insurance increase dramatically and finally become unattainable except by having to join the "pool". Like retirement accounts and life insurance, car insurance can lock in a low rate for most of your life - and - more importantly lock-in your eligibility to get other than "pool" insurance.
- - Long term cruisers have only two futures - die on your boat/foreign country or die in your home country having returned for medical or other reasons. That means maintaining links to insurance in your home country unless you want to totally close out that option. See the threads on medical insurance for some good information.
- - I solved the household/personal property and personal liability problem by switching from house to "renters insurance" on my Storage Unit for all the junk I cannot bear to part with even though I have not seen or used any for the last 10 years. That keeps active my links to my insurance company which handles everything except my vessel insurance. When I visit my "home country" for family or medical reasons I now have full coverage as if I never left (sort of). It is the famous principle of "not burning bridges you may need to retreat over."
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Old 24-09-2009, 08:26   #15
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Here's the scoop. KEEP at least minimal insurance. The ins company can put you in "suspense" which may cost you $10 a month total while gone (guessing). Other wise when you come back you are lumped statistically into the category with "previously uninsured". That category is for the 16 year olds and DUI's... get it? it's going to be real expensive for a couple of years...
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