New Used Car - Not On Policy

[nhaupt]

What is the name of your state? PA


Monday the 13th I purchased another used car for cash. Through the week I was unable to add it to my insurance policy due to being busy and my desire to devote a ton of attention to putting the right sized policy on it. My other car, an 89 buick, is a piece of junk so I have bare necessities on it. However, on my new used car, I had intended to cover the cost of it completely in insurance.

I never got the chance.

Saturday night, coming off the side of a mountain road, I hit ice and spun out. The roads were completely untouched by salt trucks. I spun a couple times, believe I was on my side for a part of it, and ended up in a ditch. We haven't pulled it out yet, but the way its setting- if it's not totalled now, it will be when they pull it out. But only due exterior damage (doors, windshield, mirrors) the car is only worth 3.5k. I doubt there's many interior problems since the front end is nearly perfect. My airbags never deployed.

Since the insurance is in my name, and there was no actual policy on that car, they reverted back to the coverage I have on my buick, which doesn't cover any damages to the car (they will cover medical expenses and the county road sign I took out).

Is this right? Because I didn't have the car added before the accident, there's no legal minimum they have to pay or cover by default?


A related question: is there anything I should know, involving the state not preparing roads properly?


Thanks.

 

[Meatcutter]

Check your policy. Most policy's require you to notify your insurance company within a certain number of days after acquiring a new vehicle. It will also matter if the vehicle you purchased was replacing a vehicle on the current policy or was being added in addition to the vehicle currently on your policy.

Either way, if the vehicle this car was replacing had liab only and you did not call to add full coverage then you will get the coverage on the vehicle it was replacing which appears to be liab only.

If this is a vehicle to be added in addition to the vehicles already on the policy then you should get the broadest coverage afforded on your policy. (Ex you have two cars on your policy before buying this one and one of your cars has full coverage and another has liab only. If this car was being added to the policy in addition to the other two cars then this car would get the full coverage) But again it's entirely based on your company's policy.

It sounds like your out of luck if you failed to call and add full coverage on this vehicle after purchase.

 

[nhaupt]

yeah thats what I'm figuring. This is my first car (that I bought. My others were kind of dumped/given to me) so I'm still trying to understand things like insurance, registration, ect.

A pricy lession.. I'm just happy the only injuries was just having an entire body ache.

But yeah, only one other vehicle on my insurance, and thats lowest coverage allowed. I was just hoping, somewhere, there was a looppole that set a default insurance from the time you purchase your vehicle to you have it successfully added on. Kind of silly there isn't.

Thanks for the swift reply.

 

[stephenk]

typically a policy will only cover a new car for about 30 days before you must notify the company if that new car is purchased to replace a car that was already on the policy. They typically don't apply coverage if your new car is in addition to a car you already have on the policy.