What are you doing with your car insurance?

[Ready2Save27]

Pretty much as the title says. I’m working at home indefinitely until this mess is better. The only reason I am driving my car is to keep it in good condition, as I read in several places that you shouldn’t let a car sit for long. I’ve been driving it about 1 mile every 1-2 weeks. I called Geico and they won’t offer any discounts/decrease premium for this. Would you...

-Cancel insurance and stop driving (Not a fan of this because there have been several car break ins in my neighborhood. It’s not a bad neighborhood and mainly happens to vehicles that are left unlocked. And I park under a tree, so that could fall on the car.)
-Lower coverage to minimum values and stop driving
-Lower coverage to minimum value and keep driving
-Lower coverage a little and keep driving
-Do nothing
-Do something else

If you’re wondering how I get food, I live with someone else that gets food/other necessities. I do not need to touch my car, I’ve just read you shouldn’t let it sit for a month.

Suggestions?

[Paul der Krake]

You typically cannot cancel your liability insurance unless the car is garaged and sign in blood that you're never ever ever ever going to drive the car.

I have changed nothing, but then again I don't carry collision or comprehensive.

[Villanelle]

You could call and change your estimated yearly mileage.  Might save you a few bucks. 

[alsoknownasDean]

Could always sell it if you don't plan on using it longer term?

I've left my insurance as is. $35 a month isn't so bad.

[Michael in ABQ]

I called my insurance company before I deployed and to put it in storage dropped my monthly rate to about 40%. I'm only paying $150-200 every six months so it wasn't really worth it just in case my wife needed to use it while I was gone. Plus there's a bunch of restrictions so that even if you just drove it around the block to warm it up once a month if that was the time you got in an accident you basically wouldn't be covered.

In general vehicles need to be driven. If they sit they will start to have issues. At a minimum I would be starting it up and letting it run for a little while every couple weeks. Driving it around a bit would be better. It helps keep the battery charged and the oil moving around in the engine.

This is one reason military vehicles have so many maintenance issues. They spend 95%+ of their time sitting in a motor pool waiting to be used. Often for months at a time.

[pk_aeryn]

Good time to switch to a pay-per-mile insurance if that’s available in your state.

Absolutely don’t cancel car insurance entirely - premiums are based on continued coverage and it’s more expensive to cancel insurance and lose continued coverage “discount” than to get into an accident.

I also would not change my policy to minimum coverages. With the roads more empty, people are driving more recklessly than ever. Accidents are still very possible and they’ll be more serious and expensive with people driving at higher speeds.

[Ready2Save27]

Thanks for all of the feedback and suggestions! I’ll look into them further

[ohsnap]

I'm surprised Geico didn't tell you about this...I reduced our annual miles driven and it reduced my cost by >20%.  I still think we're paying too much considering the cars are just sitting there in the driveway/garage.

[Fish Sweet]

Right before all the craziness I switched over to pay-per-mile (Metromile) because I'd left my far commuting job.  I'm saving about $100 a month on that alone.  That said, I can't attest to their actual coverage because I haven't needed it (and hopefully never will, since I'm driving about ten miles  week at this point, if that.)

[ChickenStash]

While it's true that long periods of non-use isn't good for a car, neither is only driving it 1 mile every 1-2 weeks. Most wear occurs with a cold startup and with this plan that's all the drivetrain is seeing. If you really don't need to drive it, just get a cheap battery tender (<$10) and let it sit. If you do want to take it out for a spin, try to drive it long enough to get the coolant up to normal temp for a little bit.

[Sibley]

Apparently I'm getting some money back. Allstate. No idea how much or when, but cool.

As for the insurance - no change. It causes problems to have a gap in insurance, regardless of the reason.

[HipGnosis]

Sell the car IF   you have Lyft / Uber in your area (and open an account).  I prefer Lyft.
Otherwise, sell the car and get an old, cheaper car. It will depreciate less and cost less to insure.
I agree that 1 mile every month or so isn't 'good' enough.   Get an 'intelligent' charger (one that monitors the battery so it doesn't over-charge it) AND drive it a few miles a few times a yr.

[The Good Life]

We're in nearly the same situation. Check your email, I got an email from Geico yesterday, 15% off for any policy up for renewal (or new policy) between April 8th and October 7th. No action required on your part.

As for letting your car sit, I'm not a mechanic but have been taking it out once per week. And have done the same weekly schedule in the past when it would otherwise sit unused for much longer. No issues so far. Don't think I'd want to let it go longer than a week, and have heard others use that "rule of thumb" also

[Rural]

Don't just cancel without checking state laws. Some will cancel your drivers license if it appears you have a vehicle you aren't insuring.

[JLee]

Apparently I'm getting some money back. Allstate. No idea how much or when, but cool.

As for the insurance - no change. It causes problems to have a gap in insurance, regardless of the reason.

AllState told me 15% of my monthly premium cost for a two month period.

[js82]

Apparently I'm getting some money back. Allstate. No idea how much or when, but cool.

As for the insurance - no change. It causes problems to have a gap in insurance, regardless of the reason.

AllState told me 15% of my monthly premium cost for a two month period.

That 15% for 2 months seems to be the industry norm right now - that's what I got(with Travelers, without asking), and I know others who have gotten similar discounts.

I suspect that the auto insurance industry is saving way more than 15% in costs, considering travel is down by something like 75% nationally at this point - and that means a lot fewer payouts for auto accidents, and fewer people needed to investigate claims.

[FIPurpose]

I hold USAA insurance. They sent an email to everyone saying that they will be returning 20% of premiums on 2 months. Though USAA always returns some money at EOY if there weren't too many claims.

[Sibley]

Apparently I'm getting some money back. Allstate. No idea how much or when, but cool.

As for the insurance - no change. It causes problems to have a gap in insurance, regardless of the reason.

AllState told me 15% of my monthly premium cost for a two month period.

That 15% for 2 months seems to be the industry norm right now - that's what I got(with Travelers, without asking), and I know others who have gotten similar discounts.

I suspect that the auto insurance industry is saving way more than 15% in costs, considering travel is down by something like 75% nationally at this point - and that means a lot fewer payouts for auto accidents, and fewer people needed to investigate claims.

from what I can tell (auto insurance company) - claims are down yes, but there's concerns about parts shortages ie, more expensive repairs. However, the effort to get EVERYONE remote was not necessarily cheap or easy. Lot of equipment purchased on the fly, lot of IT effort to shore up networks, etc. Depending on locations, lots of hotspots or paying for internet hookups for employees. And efficiency is down too - people are handling fewer calls/claims than in the office, etc.  So, net positive for the companies overall, but not pure positive.

Obviously, a big generalization. And I've only heard about a couple of the companies.

[OtherJen]

I just paid our next 6-month policy in full earlier this week because husband is still driving to work and I am in charge of groceries and dropping off supplies at my parents' house as needed.

According to this, we should get 20% refunds for April and May from Progressive: https://www.clickondetroit.com/features/2020/04/10/hey-drivers-you-just-might-have-an-auto-insurance-refund-coming-your-way/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=wdiv&fbclid=IwAR0lXoEuVeQS_Kd1VPOuRh0-mE3bcNPjuB2-k-YSOancSZNjHNcJwIe4u2g

[Trifle]

Looks like State Farm is returning 25% of premiums for the period 3/20/20 -- 5/31/20, though they say that "exact amounts may differ by state."  https://newsroom.statefarm.com/covid-19 

[use2betrix]

Still working, still driving.. So nothing.