So we all know that insurance is required by law and they basically have a lisence to steal. Not that I am against insurance (I believe peace of mind is very important and it is clear that insurance is good for the economy) I just believe that there are some very bad insurance companies (Although better than most in the US). Asking an insurance question to your insurance company about almost anything (unless it's about how you want to give them more money) is never anything less than pulling teeth and a ringing in your ears after all that on-hold music.

1) Some of us like to store cars in the off season or maybe we move around alot and can't take a car with us for a few months. What I want to know is how difficult is it to discontinue insurance for a brief period of time (say 4 - 6 months) and what penalties you are looking at.

2) I move around alot since I'm in the University of Waterloo's (I'm not asian, I do have a little redneck in me though) co-op program and I work a job every other 4 months. This usually means I move to Toronto to work (Live in North York, TTC it downtown. Currently doing that now until January). The only permenent address I have is in Niagara Falls and I know insurance is pure rape-age there, so where would be the easiest place to insure it? Waterloo (A small town with less drivers and I live right by campus so driving would be cut to a minimum), North York (Downsview area, don't drive to work), or Niagara Falls (Permament address but I never live there for more than 1-3 weeks every year ... funny eh?).

3) What insurance companies have you had good experiences with? I am a middle class white male continuing post secondary education with a reputible school and program (Computer Science for those who were wondering) and a new driver history. I'm looking for a company that I can tailor a plan for. I'm basically just looking for bare minumum protection on a 1986 FC (It's a 1990 NA but the VIN says otherwise ) that will not be driven too often.

The car I'm looking at right now is maxvol's FC seen here:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=581432

Thanks for replies in advance.

 

I know in BC anyway that the address you insure the car under must be the one where it's actually parked the majority of the time (home). You have about a week to change when you move. If you've insured it as being in another town then they can deny a claim based on that should they find out. It's insurance fraud. Just have it registered at the place where you currently reside and change it when you move.

 

Well, BC is government, so the experiences won't really apply.

I'm in Alberta and I've been using TD insurance and its the cheapest I know of. They put their customers in groups and rate them that way as opposed to individually at other companies. The benefit being you can be on the tail end of a top group and get a good rate like me .

As for seasonal insurance... it's going to be tough. I switch cars every year without problem but the catch is that I always have a car being driven on the road [winter/summer cars]. That said, a friend's insurance company wouldn't let him put his only car on parking insurance when he went on a long trip. So basically I know they will switch between cars with no penalty, but a single vehicle I'm not so sure.

I'd just phone TD and see what they say. A friend of mine is also with statefarm and he swears by it... so you could try them also.

 

Instead of having Full coverage on the car ..take it Down to just Fire ,Theft and Vandalism while it is being stored.That way there is still insurance on it IF anything Happens.

 

I take my coverage down to the minimum every winter and take OFF the road. Then in the spring I make another call and put all the insurance back on, no probs.

I stopped reading your post after the 1 since it's too long winded and has problems getting to the question. Sorry.

 

Most insureance companies wont allow you to take it down to fire and theft, but you might be able to work on it if its worth something, as in its aprraised for a decient amount of money. else, just lock it up tight in a secure spot.

 

No matter how you do it, the registered address MUST be where the car actaully gets parked, otherwise you're committing insurance fraud and they can deny your claim and prosecute you.

Man I'm glad I'm in BC. Insurance here is easy. I can either cancel the insurance or let it run out and get storage insurance without any issues. The storage insurance covers it only for fire, theft, and vandalism, only what's needed, and it's about $15 a month.

 

Really?

Sorry I like to keep my posts entertaining. I'm used to smaller tighter knit communities. I just realized today that there were 1000 new posts between last night and noon today.

 

Discontinuing insurance and starting it again is bad. They just start you at the beginning everytime. You cant have 'park' insurance unless you have another daily driver. At least that was the case for me at TD, RBC and AMA.

You'll find that insurance companies are some of the most crooked criminals in the economy today. You thought the liberals were bad. Wait until you have to make a claim. Usually they just write it off to get you out of their hair.

 

We've found Canadian Direct to offer the best auto rates (Calgary, mind you), and that included comparisons against various group plans. I drop the coverage to fire/theft over the winter 'cuz I store the 7, so I don't have the issue of starting all over again, and I have other vehicles that are insured year round.
I'm not sure really whether where you store the car is relevant to your current address - if I didn't want the 7 to be taking up valuable garage space over the winter, I could find a barn or garage somewhere to store it, and the insurance company wouldn't want the address of the garage or barn, they'd want my home address. So I would say you should insure it where you actually spend the largest chunk of your year (eg, school in Waterloo), and ask whether it makes a difference for example if you then go to work in TO for a co-op term, which it very well might.
As far as the utility of insurance for older vehicles, collision is NOT worth it, unless you're going to get the vehicle appraised to make sure its covered for actual value (if it is in nicer than normal condition for the age). The only advantage otherwise is, here in Alberta at least, if you are in an accident, and one driver is covered for collision and the other is not, they almost always find fault 100% on the driver without collision coverage, unless it is patently obvious it is not. Presumably this is because they will have to pay for the driver with collision anyway, and that denies any claim for the non-collision driver.