We are thinking about buying a car for our 3 month trip to USA, we are wondering if car insurance is compulsory in the states.
I am travelling around America with 3 other friends at the end of June for 3 months. We have decided our route but we havn\'t decided on how to get around yet.
We can afford to buy a car and this is our preffered way of travel as it will be more convenient for us. We all have a UK driving Licence and an international drivers permit to enable us to legally drive in America. We have heard stories that you dont have to have car insurance, is this true??
Is car insurance the law in America?
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Reply to this You do need some sort of insurance, but you can usually get that form the rental company. Otherwise, if you have insurance in the UK, you can see if your policy covers driving in the US.
Of course, there's always the "it's only illegal if you get caught" mentality, but you might not want to risk it, with the way some people drive in the cities...
Reply to this Travelling in the States without an insurance is a non-sense. Have you never heard of the high costs you could end up paying if you do injure somebody. We don't speak in 10,000usd, we speak in millions.
If you have no insurance for yourself, that's your problem, but if you injure/kill somebody...your family will have to sell everything they have and you will have to pay all your life....does it really worth the risk?
Sorry to be blunt about it.
Reply to this many thanks Dani! I will check with my insurance company and see what they have to say.
Pierre-alexandre, i am the worlds best driver and never crash.
Reply to this you are in the obligation to buy insurance that will cover the others.
This is a law.
Your insurance don't have to cover you but the others.
Reply to this Lol, geez people. Let's lay out the absolute worst case scenario :D I'm curious as to what your determined route is?
What they all said is correct. Also if you plan on going to Mexico and/or Canada (I highly recommend you do if you close by, especially if you go to San Diego or Buffalo), make sure your insurance will cover that. Not all insurance plans will.
Reply to this Like everyone else has mentioned, car insurance is required to drive legally in the U.S. Remember that if you are the world's best driver, that guarantees that the person behind the wheel in the car next to you isn't. Say you park you car, walk inside to your room for a nice relaxing evening, and then some idiot driver loses control, slams into your vehicle and completely wrecks it (happened to my roommate). Clearly you weren't at fault, but when the authorities show up to do their report you're going to need to show proof of insurance too. It's the random unexpected events that insurance is for anyhow.
Something else you might want to consider is becoming a member of a motorist club (is it AA in the UK?). It provides you benefits with the U.S and Canadian equivalents (AAA and CAA) - so if you need to get towed, run out of gas, the battery dies, you lock the keys in the car ... you're covered. I always highly recommend it for anyone planning a road trip.
Reply to this Thanks everyone for their replies. We are starting in san francisco, heading south to LA, across to vegas, then route 66 to chicago, down to miami and then up the east coast to New York.
We are not interested in hiring a car so its either public transport or buying a car. We want to buy a car as its more convenient to us.
Is it hard to obtain insurance? should i contact insurance companies such as AIG before i arrive? a friend has recently told me its very difficult to get car insurance.
thanks
Reply to this The main obstacle to overcome is finding an insurance company that will provide you with auto insurance without a U.S drivers license as that is typically what you need to qualify. I would be contacting a few insurance companies now and be asking them just that - will you insure me for 3 months with my UK and/or International Drivers License? Make sure they offer coverage in California since is likely where the car will have to be licensed/registered if you're buying in San Fran and the specific policies you are required to have vary state to state.
Once you find a carrier willing to accept that, it's quite easy - you'll just need to answer a few questions about the make, model and mileage of your car and your driving history, then provide whatever payment is needed.
Reply to this The car insurance is really important when you travel from one state to other sate….you can go for either expat insurance or travel insurance…The travel insurance is best where you can safely travel from one state to other….<snip>
Reply to this Why would car insurance not be necessary everytime you drive your risking your life or the life of someone else and at anytime an accident can happen it would be ridiculous to not have insuracne
Reply to this Keep in mind that if you are under 25 years old you will not be able to rent a car.
Reply to this Hi,
In all parts of the USA, car insurance is important to carry if you own a vehicle. Every state, except New Hampshire, has mandatory car insurance minimums that must be respected.
It is important to understand the various different types of car insurance in America. In most states liability coverage is mandatory. It is the coverage that will protect you from lawsuits over injuries or losses you cause. Bodily injury coverage usually has a per person and a per accident limit. Property damage liability will have a separate limit.
Even though car insurance in mandatory in the USA, it does not have to be costly. While premiums will vary greatly depending on where you live, the kind of car you drive, your age and other factors, there are things that you can control to help bring the cost of car insurance down.
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[Edited: 2011 Oct 27 14:21 - Cockle:46288 - Advertising removed.]
Reply to this In response to: Msg #111266 Actually nobody is thinking straight these latest times. To responsability to cover the damage in any paved road that belongs to the government is its own responsability. The law require the owner of a property to pay for any damage happening to the guests. For the same token the government is the one responsible to have its own insurance and cover the damage of any vehicle or person or good traveling on its property. I will surely be the most famous man in the planet because I am the only one that can see all of these issues. (-:
Reply to this Try Progressive as a non US-citizen- you can get insurance with liability only (for an older car) for 6 months. We have foreign licences only and registered our van in California where we also got the insurance. This wasn't a problem at all - but you need to do a smog test and an address in the US to register. Hope that helps for the next travellers! Have fun!
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