PSA: You can likely pause your auto insurance while on vacation

[FreelanceToFreedom]

I'm going to be doing a lot of extended travel this coming year, so I researched ways to cut car expenses (I'm keeping my car for now).

With my provider (State Farm), I can effectively pause my car insurance - keeping comprehensive only just in case of a tree falling, theft, etc.) It costs me about $15 per month for comp only, compared to ~$110/mo for full coverage (I'm young). So, every day it's paused, I save about $3 on insurance premiums.

The really nice thing is that it's just a quick phone call to pause or re-activate coverage. I was told they are willing to pause it even for 24 hours, but obviously that probably isn't worth the hassle. But looking at even a 1-week trip when you're not going to be using your car, it becomes worthwhile and gives you $20 to spend on public transit or other transport in your destination city.

Plus, this technically keeps your insurance "active", even when it's paused. If you cancel insurance and are left uninsured (even if you don't own a car) your future rates may be higher when you do decide to get coverage again. So if you were doing extended travel, this might make more sense than cancelling coverage all together.

Now keep in mind:

• The car probably needs to be parked off-street, as this pauses uninsured driver coverage
• You won't have liability insurance for yourself, so this doesn't make sense if you'll be renting a car on vacation
• I'm sure every insurer has different rules, and some might not offer this at all

I suppose this could also make sense to do for 2-car households, where the 2nd car is only used occasionally. My agent told me she has people that call in most Friday's to activate coverage on their trucks for weekend use, and have coverage permanently paused Monday-Friday.

Anyways, I'm sure it varies significantly from provider to provider, but might be worth looking into for you travelers out there!

[reeshau]

This is quite common for people with "seasonal" vehicles, be they RV's, sports cars, etc.

Just be sure to take note if you do end up renting a car on your vacation, whether for some spontaneous adventure or due to some transportation issue.

[Icecreamarsenal]

This is great advice, thanks.

[secondcor521]

Good idea, thanks for the PSA.

One other caveat:  Make sure you never forget to reactivate your insurance before driving.  For those of us whose memories are slipping, it could be an expensive error.

Next thought:  What if you call in and ask them to reactivate but the agent makes a mistake and doesn't do it?  Do you get a confirmation number or something?

[Rural]

Check your state law. If I were to suspend insurance without also suspending registration, the state would pull my driver's license.

[momcpa]

I just "googled" the idea of suspending my car insurance.  Doesn't seem like anything that I found supported the idea.  BUT, since you say your agent commented that people often do this, I will be calling our insurance people tomorrow to see if we have that option.  I think it sounds great for a second car we have, but rarely use.  Thanks for bringing up the topic.  My son did this when he put his car in storage and lived overseas for an extended period of time....but I never thought to do this on a car we have garaged at home.

I'll try to remember to report back here what I find out.

[HipGnosis]

Check your state law. If I were to suspend insurance without also suspending registration, the state would pull my driver's license.

What state is that? I've never heard of 'suspending registration'.

[jpdx]

Good tip! Also checkout pay-per-mile insurance. You can "pause" your insurance every time you park your car. :)