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Old 03-11-2018, 19:49   #1
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Owning a car while cruising

For the past few years I have stored my car in Florida while cruising and this year I have taken the plunge and sold it. I followed the instructions on the FHSMV website and sent them in the correct form filled out and now they have my car listed in their database as being sold. So now I am a non owner and figure I will get by renting cars when I need them. So the problem is this and I would like to hear from anyone in Florida who knows the answer. I rang up my State Farm insurance agent and she told me that in no uncertain terms, that if I cancel my car insurance my drivers license will be revoked. So I told her not to cancel it. I then looked online and read all sorts of conflicting information. There is an insurance product called "non owner car insurance" that I rang her back and asked about but according to her, she could not offer this with personal liability, a requirement of the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle Department. She said the only way I could keep my drivers license was to keep on paying the car insurance on my old car that I no longer own. I then rang the FHSMV department and they told me that I had to turn in my old tag into the Clay County Tax Collector's office and get a receipt from them. Then I am supposed to take this receipt along to the insurance company and show them it so that they can cancel my insurance. I asked the lady at the FHSMV department several times if my license would be revoked if I did this and she said no. Despite this I am not convinced.

Anyway long story short, has any Florida cruiser tried to cancel their car insurance?
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Old 03-11-2018, 19:53   #2
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

That's freaking madness!
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Old 03-11-2018, 19:57   #3
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

That’s rubbish. If you own no car you have nothing to insure.

If you ask me, it’s fraudulent to carry insurance on a vehicle you no longer own.
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Old 03-11-2018, 19:59   #4
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

I don't know if this helps but I've had a Florida driver's license for over 20 years with no car insurance. As a side note lift is offering deals where you can rent a car for about 209 a week and work as little or as much as you want with first time driver incentives.
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Old 03-11-2018, 20:31   #5
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

I had a drivers license until 2016 but haven't driven a car since 2010 and haven't owned a car since 1998. As far as I know Texas will give anyone (who qualifies) a license if you own a car or not.
Since I do not have a DL, or reside in the US long enough to get an ID, I give people my passport when they ask for ID. I get some odd looks in the US.

I'm an old fart and the teen at the grocery store asked for my DL to buy beer. I handed her my passport and I am pretty sure she didn't know what the heck it was. She looked at it for what felt like 10 minutes and then told me "I'll just punch in a date and maybe it'll let you buy that"
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Old 03-11-2018, 21:20   #6
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

It is not hard to get a DL in any state you choose to establish your legal domicile.

And you never need to own a vehicle to do so.

When you rent they have the basic insurance included, and you can opt to pay more to eliminate the deductible.
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Old 04-11-2018, 00:31   #7
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailmonkey View Post
That’s rubbish. If you own no car you have nothing to insure.

If you ask me, it’s fraudulent to carry insurance on a vehicle you no longer own.
Yes, I think you're right. You could claim it's been stolen, point at an empty parking space and say "see, its gone!".
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Old 04-11-2018, 01:27   #8
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

Quote:
Originally Posted by KeelMe View Post
I had a drivers license until 2016 but haven't driven a car since 2010 and haven't owned a car since 1998. As far as I know Texas will give anyone (who qualifies) a license if you own a car or not.
Since I do not have a DL, or reside in the US long enough to get an ID, I give people my passport when they ask for ID. I get some odd looks in the US.

I'm an old fart and the teen at the grocery store asked for my DL to buy beer. I handed her my passport and I am pretty sure she didn't know what the heck it was. She looked at it for what felt like 10 minutes and then told me "I'll just punch in a date and maybe it'll let you buy that"
I kept my TX DL renewed for many years (almost 15) after leaving the USA. No car or insurance in the USA. Not a problem in TX, but dont know in FL.
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Old 04-11-2018, 01:29   #9
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

OP: I would go with official answer from FL, but ask them to provide you a reference to the relevant statute.
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Old 04-11-2018, 04:56   #10
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

Get your answer from Florida, in writing. As in an email.
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Old 04-11-2018, 06:57   #11
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

And (I'd be amazed) if it is true for FL, just legally "move", switch your legal domicile and DL to a different state, really not hard for a nomad.
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Old 04-11-2018, 07:14   #12
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

I would be surprised if Florida operates on principles so divergent from other jurisdictions - though of course, you never can tell :-)

You got your information from, it appears, a functionary of an insurance underwriter. What makes you think that it is trustworthy? She may have been a trainee on the first day in her job. She was clearly ignorant of fundamental legal principles.

Licence issuance has NOTHING to do with insurance underwriting. Motor vehicle REGISTRATION has nothing to do with licence issuance. In any jurisdiction I know of, you can obtain a DL without owning a car. You can then RENT a car, and drive it legally. As John sez, Insurance Coverage is provided in the rental contract. You cannot complete the rental contract unless you accept the Insurance component of the contract. The coverage you obtain that way is of two kinds a) coverage for damage to the rented car, and b) liability insurance ("third party coverage") for damage you may cause to the property of others. You can be sure that if a claim is made under this insurance, the underwriter WILL subrogate against any PERSONAL liability insurance you may have under, say, a HOME OWNER'S policy. If you have no personal liability insurance, the claim may be made as an action against your assets.

You can insure a car you own even if you have no DL provided you have title to the car. What you cannot do, even if it is insured, is DRIVE it - at least legally. If it is driven illegally, any insurance on it is voided.

When you deal with functionaries, whether in the private sector or in government do NOT take their unsupported word for anything. KNOW the legal background so you can correct them when they make mistakes - as they will!

Cheers :-)

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Old 04-11-2018, 07:15   #13
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

This may not ever become relevant to you, but once you terminate your car insurance you will more likely than not be placed into a high risk pool if ever you opt to have a car and insurance on it again. Years ago I sold a car as I was moving to Florida and would be driving my mother's car there. We were both insured by Allstate and I made sure that I was covered under my mother's policy with Allstate. Nevertheless, when I once again owned my own car and went to get insurance on it Allstate almost doubled my rates because according to them I had been uninsured in the interim. Now I have AMICA and they have a policy that you can suspend insurance, paying only a minimal rate for a vehicle that is not being used by you (or by anyone else) so in effect you continue to have insurance.
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Old 04-11-2018, 07:41   #14
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Owning a car while cruising

I am insured with USAA, they will allow you to place your car in storage, which takes your Insurence cost to almost nothing, then if or when you return, just call them and reinstate coverage. It satisfies the tag office for Insurence, drop Insurence on a car with a tag on it, even if it’s in storage and they get nasty fast.
With our Wife’s car, I just turned the tag back into Georgia, and it’s completely uninsured, or registered.
Lady at the tag office in Clay Co said I cannot do that, I must maintain both a tag and Insurence on the vehicle.
I suspect she is incorrect, but I didn’t argue the point, surely you can own a vehicle in Florida and not drive it, and surely you can possess a drivers license without owning a vehicle.
I just renewed the Miata’s tag and registered our Daughters Prius in Clay county, cost was $500, so I may be investigating it more closely in the future. I know $300 of that was a non reoccurring new vehicle tax, and I registered both though Dec of 2020 as Fl will allow a two year registration.
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Old 04-11-2018, 07:42   #15
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Re: Owning a car while cruising

I tried to Google it and I couldn't find out but I think in Florida if you drop your insurance it's illegal to keep your car registered or something like that. Don't listen to a person selling you insurance.... and I'm not picking on AllState but I'll never forget when I was shopping for car insurance an Allstate Broker swore up and down that they had the lowest rate I don't need to look around blah blah blah, they were double the price of insurance I got from Geico. Same coverage.
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