When you buy a new car, it is important that you take the time to transfer your car insurance in Winston-Salem from one vehicle to the next. Get in touch with your agent in advance to find out how to do this. It is usually a very easy process. You just have to get the title for the new vehicle so that you can tell him or her all of the important information about it – the make, model, VIN and the like – and create a record for it. The agent will then put it into the system and give you a quote for the insurance.
You may have heard about how you have some extra time to transfer your license plate over to a new vehicle. Most of the time, you get three days to do this. You can drive your car without a plate. If you go to the dealership, they are going to give you a temporary plate anyway, so this will not matter. If you buy the car from another person, though, you need the three days to drive it home so that you can get all of the paperwork in order and get the new plate. If you drive it like this, make sure that you have your purchasing paperwork with you so that the police know that you did not steal it.
However, it is important to note that the same is not true with insurance. You need to call your insurance agent first to get the new plan put on the car. If you crashed the vehicle while you were driving it home – no one thinks that it will happen to them, but it does happen every year – and you had no insurance, you would not be covered under your old plan, even within this three day window.
This is so important because people often make the simple mistake of thinking that the same rules apply for the insurance and the new plate. These are the two main things that you have to get to make it legal to drive a new car, so the reason for this confusion is clear. All the same, you must know the difference or you could put yourself in a very difficult position. If you have any questions about what you need to do or how it all works, contact your insurance agent today.
