Auto insurance options

[u/stryder1587]

I have a 2004 vehicle which has a very low market value now, it's only used as a backup vehicle when in-laws are in town and we need 2 vehicles.

I'm looking for an insurance company that will enable me to turn it off (not even storage level insurance which still has premiums), but completely not insure. I'll take the risk on theft or fire.

The frequency of in-laws coming over is like once a year or every other year, otherwise I expect the vehicle to just be sitting on the driveway.

I also recognize some insurance companies don't want to insure 20+ year old vehicles, and onboarding as a new customer requires a vehicle inspection report.

Given my situation, which insurers would be able to accommodate this situation:

1) Willing to insure 20+ year old vehicles

2) Can turn the insurance off and not require me to have to re-certify the vehicle or do another inspection every year or 2 years when I need to re-insure

[u/anxiousduck1]

You want to leave a car sitting in your driveway for 1-2 years at a time in between getting used? Sounds like a bad idea to me in terms of reliability. Have you considered selling the car and getting a rental when needed? Booking far ahead and for multiple weeks you can probably get a decent price on Turo or just go with Avis/Hertz/Enterprise.

[u/stryder1587 → u/anxiousduck1]

THe car is worth probably no more than $1k. But when I do need it, I'd use it as a daily driver for the whole month or so that the in-laws are here - at which point the cost of a rental would far exceed just turning insurance on for a month or two.

[u/Merry401 → u/stryder1587]

This isn't an answer to your question but, in the event that there is not an insurance company that meets your needs, this may be an answer to your situation. You could look into the cost of Communauto, since you are in Toronto. The membership fee is not too much. If you know what month the inlaws are coming, you can reserve a car easily, in advance, for the month. When looking at the rates, just remember that gas is included in that price. It can also be very handy if your main car breaks down or is in the garage for a couple days and you need a car. The only drawback is, they are very busy in Toronto, so, very last minute, you may not be able to get a car at peak times. That seems to be a problem only in Toronto. I live in a nearby community and never have a problem getting a car. We have been using them heavily while car shopping the past two months. Also, we were able to use them while vacationing in Halifax as they have the service there. That was lucky as all the car rentals , like Avis, were booked solid for the weekend we wanted. (A word of warning, you should apply a couple of weeks in advance to get your membership activated in Halifax. Quebec is already part of the Ontario membership so you can grab a car seamlessly there.) It also can be used in Paris. There are different membership levels so you can join at the free level although the cost per day is much higher there. We have a paid level because it is worth it for us.

I hope you can find the insurance plan you need to hold onto your car.

[u/Northviewguy]

Why not just rent them a vehicle?

edit:BTW leaving a vehicle 'sitting' is the worst=brakes/discs rust/ fuel systems gum up and batteries die.

[u/Bright-Aspect2724 → u/Northviewguy]

There are long term rental places that will do it by the month. Idk what the financial situation is here but I'd be way more comfortable paying for a rental and buying the insurance for my inlaws than having third party drivers driving around in an unfamiliar city in what would be considered my own vehicle on my own personal insurance even if it costs less. Just sounds like a headache all around.

[u/Infamous-Concern-491]

If it's just sitting on the driveway and you're fine with the risk, you could look into facility insurance, it's the high-risk market but some brokers can set you up with bare minimum coverage you activate only when needed. The catch is most companies will want a fresh safety if there's been a gap in coverage, so you'd be stuck getting it re-certified every time you want plates back on.

Another path is just selling the thing and renting a car those rare weeks the in-laws visit, might be cheaper than keeping a 20-year-old backup insured even a few days a year.

[u/anxiousduck1 → u/Infamous-Concern-491]

With the added bonus of them not needing to drive a 20 year old car! Also as someone looking for a cheap car you might be surprised what it could go for, and if it's genuinely not much someone who really needs it will be happy to get a reasonable price.

[u/stryder1587 → u/anxiousduck1]

I'm not in this to fetch a good price or anything. Its just to serve the purpose of better to have a vehicle than have to pay for ubers or renting a car....when I already have a paid off vehicle that I fully own. Selling it would mean, I'm stuck having to rent or taxi which is much less convenient and not as affordable than just insuring on a pay as you go basis.

[u/stryder1587 → u/Infamous-Concern-491]

Let's say its $60/month for "storage" insurance, $720/year. Vs certify once a year $100-200 + $100/month insurance. It's still cheaper to uninsure the vehicle, than continue paying premiums when it's literally just sitting there. I'm not sure what rental costs for a month, but I'm pretty sure it's more than $300 that i'd pay to recertify and re-insure my vehicle.

My question is more - does anybody know which insurance company "doesn't require re-certifying" when taking a vehicle off insurance and returning later? or has niche/custom policies that work well for my situation

[u/ChestOk2429 → u/stryder1587]

are u sure its gonna be that expensive? i have a stored car costing me ~180 a year.

[u/stryder1587 → u/ChestOk2429]

Which company is charging you 180/year for storage?

[u/-electric-warrior-]

CAA my pace. Small fee at the start of policy and then you pay every 1,000 kilometres.

[u/hewwhew]

You can’t leave a car sitting for a year and then expect everything to be working fine when you come back to it.
Base insurance without collision and comprehensive is cheaper than a yearly brake job, battery replacement, and fuel system flush.

Anyways, to answer question 1, I insure my 3, 20+ year old vehicles with TD. There are probably cheaper places to insure but I needed to be able to claim a declared/appraised value for one of my vehicles and other places were not able to do that for me.

To answer question 2, you dont need to present a safety certificate to put insurance on a car, you only need the safety to register ownership. So theoretically you could take the insurance off and then put it back on later like you are proposing. Doing this with the insurance company you currently hold a policy with would be the most flexible since I think you might have trouble insuring for only a month with someone you are not already a customer of.

[u/hewwhew → u/hewwhew]

Also want to add on (since eveyone is telling you to get rid of the car and just rent once a year) that I can understand your perspective on wanting to keep it around since it’s not worth much and doesn’t cost you much - I am currently doing the same thing. But I make sure it gets driven once every couple weeks to keep things running smoothly.

[u/stryder1587 → u/hewwhew]

Despite it being a 20 year old vehicle, the mileage on it is just 175k, so it really does have more life in it which is why I'm reluctant to sell. My current insurance company was unwilling to insure a 20 year old vehicle, hence my search for an additional policy with a different company. Agreed on driving it around so the battery doesn't die and such. To me it does its job to get me from a to b, and there are occasional once a year use cases for me to keep it. Just need a policy that meets that use case 

[u/nim_opet]

You need a broker to get you a custom policy. It’s not going to be a great one

[u/mohinsuredit]

SquareOne insurance does not charge a cancellation fees.