Buying a Car: How Do You Add Insurance If You Buy Over the Weekend?

autotrader.com

70 NEWS JAPAN - Before you start thinking about how to add your new car to your insurance policy, we suggest checking the terms of your current policy. For many drivers, a newly purchased vehicle is automatically covered for a certain number of days before you ever add it to your policy, precisely to account for situations like this.

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Before you visit a car dealer, we suggest asking your insurance agent if your policy has such a clause. If he or she tells you that it's OK to buy a new car and add it to the policy later, you may want to get this in writing so you can prove to the dealer that leaving the lot without proof of insurance isn't a problem. If you choose to go this route, however, we strongly suggest that you call your agent as soon as he or she opens his office on the next business day, since many drivers -- and even law enforcement officers -- can be unfamiliar with this rule.

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It's also important to note that the dealer may not let you leave with your new car just because your insurance company offers a grace period for adding a new vehicle to your policy. This is especially true if the dealer helped you secure financing, since it's likely that the dealer or the dealer's bank will want to verify insurance rather than trust that you'll add it when your agent's office opens on Monday.