I took it off

rrlund

Well-known Member
I finally took the insurance off the old 85 Ford diesel today. It was coming due next week. What I actually did was transfer it to my 07. I'd had the policy that was on that 85 since I got my drivers license when I was 16. I'd kept transferring it. Having it that long,I was getting about every discount that's available. I saved $217 every six months by not insuring the 85 anymore,and by moving that old policy to the 07 and dropping that newest policy,even though I put full coverage back on it,I saved another $220 every six months. That saves me close to $875 a year. Add on the cost of plates and it's well over $900.
That old truck ain't worth that much if both tanks were full of premium diesel.
 
Does it have license plates on it ? Here in Ohio if it has plates you MUST carry insurance. I put historical plates on the 1981 since I barely run it. Keep Liability on it.
 
When I "retired" at about age 30, and started farming, the first thing I did was buy a grain truck. I was taken aback when the insurance agent indicated getting/affording coverage could be a challenge! His companies had been putting applicants like me into a "pool", not unlike young drivers! He called a district office while I sat there, and asked to be able to sell me a policy on the spot. Granted. He was surprised. Over the years, they told me as I was between trucks, to be sure to pay and maintain the policy, as once dropped, I would never get it back. After about 30 years, I was notified the company was quitting writing commercial vehicle policies! New policy is double the cost. It was good while it lasted.
 
[i:654c4848f0]...if it has plates you MUST carry insurance...[/i:654c4848f0]

Over the years I've had several vehicles that we stop paying the "road tax" on. I think I still have the old tags on an old Ranger we use as a tractor/wood hauler. Just never bothered to take them off and hang them on the wall. Unless I take it off my property it's none of my insurance agent's, or the gubmint's business if I have an old tag, a rainbow sticker, or a McGovern for President bumper sticker.
 
My insurance company decided to drop all their policies that were handled by my agent. Apparently they didn't want to deal with the small potatoes. Kind of like the tractor or auto manufacturers pulling the carpet out from under the smaller dealers. Agent mentioned some of the ploicy holders they kicked aside and some of them were big operations, hardly chump change. We had been with this underwriter for ovre 30 years, and my parents before us. Anyway, we went over our policies with a fine tooth comb, corrected several errors and changes that needed to be made. Dropped collision on our cars, and adjusted a lot of the personal properties. Cars are worth just a few thoudsand, too costly to carry collision any more. Outcome appears to be better coverage for about the same money.

If you haven't updated your insurance lately, would be a good thing to do. Get a multi-company agent to compare with several companies. May be savings to be realized.
 
They're still on it,but will expire before the premium would come due again. I don't think that just sitting in the yard it has to have insurance just because the plates are still good. It only has to be insured if it's on the road.
I ran it out of fuel a few weeks ago,so instead of putting fuel in and bleeding it,this was a good time to park it for good.
 
No,like I said,I've had the policy since I was 16,not that I've had that truck insured since I was 16. I had the policy on my first car,then transferred it to the second,then the third,and so on. Same policy,different vehicles.
Hang on to a policy,the discounts really add up over time.
 
Just remember to put a copy of your check or have a signed paid bill in the truck . i didnt just had the cards same as always got caught in Dubuque iowa by a woman cop told her that wasn't fair she told me whats fair about me living in Wisconsin and working in Iowa. I have seen a lot of that in court news you get caught and its no proof of insurance . i can see there point but what was happening is someone gets a bill and doesn't pay you might have the tags but that doesn't prove that you actually paid the bill.
 
Just sayin Randy, and all states are probably different, but in Kansas if you cancel your insurance on a tagged vehicle, the State will be checking to see why and wanting your tags. Hard to tell if MI is the same though. And probably not the end of the world even so - Bob
 
In Ohio (your state may vary) If it has valid plates you must have insurance on them. I knew a guy who's transmission went bad so he parked it and then canceled his insurance. Then he got a letter in the mail asking for proof of insurance and he got in all sort of trouble over it on a broken car. I guess you are to get something from a mechanic in writing and then try to get it canceled ? or sell the thing.
 
In NY you can't take the insurance off until you surrender the plates to DMV
Don't feel bad Randy - my main truck is still an 86 F-350 with a 6.9 - someday I'd like to at least upgrade to one with a turbo - we've got a lot of hills around here and the old 6.9 runs out of wind pretty quick...
 
I just got an '04 F-150. Kept the '02 Silverado work truck. Took collision off of it and asked about occasional use coverage as I plan to just use it on my property but need it for the occasional trip to get lumber or something. Agent checked and I got a "farm use" discount. It's legal on the road.
 
I Keep full coverage on mine after I hit another vehicle about 5 years ago. Another vehicle pulled out in front of me, & I had a choice... Hit a kid on a sidewalk, or ram into a Pontiac Grand Am. I hit the car, with nobody in it, & found out they had dropped "Full Coverage" insurance. Several witnesses told police they saw what happened. My insurance company "State Farm" refused to help the owners at all because the accident was caused by a third party. I totaled a $5000 vehicle, & they didn't even allow for a rental car for them! I in turn fired State Farm citing "Negligence of responsibility", & that I couldn't trust them either. The opposing Insurance refused to pay for their legal fees... BECAUSE they had no full coverage insurance!!! I will keep it on every vehicle that will even cross the road!
 
I already had a farm use discount to get it to $217. They said they could put storage insurance on it for $100 every 6 months. Said I could still use it,but I'd have to call them first and tell them I was going to use it. By doing that,I couldn't have transferred that old policy to the other truck,so when you do the math,it would have actually cost me $320 every six months.
 
If anything,I'll strip it to the bone and take the remains to Fair Salvage. It's got 6 new tires that can go on the gooseneck trailer,two batteries,that steel flatbed that I'll put on a decent gasser if I come across one,and those JC Whitney dual wheel adapters.
 
I don't think that's the case in Michigan. Never heard of such a thing. If somebody shows up,I'll hand them a screwdriver and tell them to take them,but they'd better send me a refund for the five months that are left on them.
 
One person that did something similar she
had two vehicles she drove a car in the
summer and a Toyota 4 runner in the winter
she would simply call the insurance company
and tell them to switch.
 
A friend of mine took the insurance off a 30000 dollar rollback truck he didn't use anymore and was going to sell.He put it on Craigslist and a couple days later someone stole it.
 
Here in Illinois it's cheaper to get new plates than transfer the old ones to a different vehicle.
 
In Michigan we have a convoluted insurance law, called "no fault." Every car must have a basic policy which primarily covers medical on injuries in that car. If you want to protect your car you can add collision which covers collision damage, and comprehensive which covers damage not caused by collision - car deer, glass breakage, acts of God, etc. Other riders for road service, residual liability, etc. Each owner is responsible for own car. That means that every fender bender doesn't have to end up in court to establish responsibility. That way insurance companies can begin to cover losses immediately, and folks arent left holding the bag for months and years. It works sort of well, however certain provisions in the law make insurance rather expensive. Won't go in to that here, but if the state would streamline the law and do away with some provisions it would work well.

That said, I have a couple old cars that are only worth a couple thousand. I self insure them and dropped collision coverage. If I have a crash and total the car, I have to come up with the cash to repair or replace. Meanwhile I'm saving several hundred a year. If I actually save that money, I'll be well on the way to covering the potential loss. That probably only works on older depreciated vehicles. Not rich enough to pull that off on a new one, but then I will never be able to afford anything even near new!

(40 years teaching driver ed including basic insurance.)
 
Some states, like North Carolina, require you to turn in your license plates when you cancel insurance. I'd like to see Michigan take that approach, since there are too many uninsured vehicles on the road. Because insurance is so expensive in Detroit, many drivers get a "seven-day" policy, which is just long enough to get their plates renewed.

Another pet peeve of mine regarding Michigan auto insurance is the "Catastrophic Claims Association" fee. It's a fixed amount, right now $160 per year, that applies to every vehicle on top the insurance premium. So if you have a car and a motorcycle, you pay the amount twice even if you're the only driver on the policies. What really steams me is that several years ago when the Catastrophic Claims fund was fat, Lansing politicians jumped all over each other in a race to see who could give the biggest MCCA refund. The fund as supposedly been short ever since then, although that's debatable because the MCCA doesn't release information on how they calculate the MCCA fee.
 

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