As your Greensboro Auto Insurance experts, here at Tom Needham Insurance Agency we offer lots of advice to our clients regarding car insurance specifics within our various blog posts. These cover topics such as how to get the best coverage for the best price, what to do immediately after being involved in a vehicle accident or things like how much coverage to carry and how high of a deductible to set on that coverage.
Number One Advice
Of all the advice we offer, one of the most important is this: Never let your car insurance lapse! Continuous coverage is critical. While there are a number of reasons an auto insurance lapse could occur, none are worth the severe consequences that could potentially accompany such a lapse, including fines, penalties and possible financial devastation if you’re in an accident while driving an uninsured vehicle. Here are a few reasons people may have for letting their car insurance lapse:
- I forgot to pay the bill
- I don’t have enough money to make the premium payment
- My car broke down
- I was in an accident and my car hasn’t been repaired
While these may sound like legitimate reasons to let an auto policy lapse, letting go of your coverage for even a short time can be incredibly expensive, even if you’re not driving your car. After having a policy lapse, the next time you try to buy car insurance you’ll likely been treated as a high-risk driver, which means your policy premiums will be much higher than those of a normal-risk driver.
And if you do make the mistake of driving without insurance coverage, if you’re pulled over by the police and can’t show proof of insurance you’ll be fined and could face loss of your driver’s license and registration and even jail time. Heaven forbid you should be involved in an accident for which you’re held liable. You could conceivably be financially ruined for life.
Getting Reinstated After a Lapse
If your coverage just lapsed, what you should do is call your Greensboro Auto Insurance agent and request to be reinstated. If you’ve had no previous lapses and no recent multiple claims you may be reinstated without problems. Bear in mind, North Carolina has NO GRACE PERIOD on unpaid premium payments.
Another stop-gap means for avoiding penalties accompanying a lapse is to immediately get listed on a friend’s or family member’s policy.