Can visitor.us insure my vehicle?
visitor.us is not a licensed insurance agent, so unfortunately, we cannot provide an insurance policy for your vehicle.
visitor.us is not a licensed insurance agent.
Who can insure my vehicle?
Most US auto insurers require a US driver's license. Two major insurers, Progressive and National General, insure drivers without a US driver's license.
(Note: these insurers' websites might not be accessible from outside of the US.)
What address should I list for my insurance policy (for vehicles without living quarters)?
If your vehicle doesn't have living quarters (such as a motorhome, or a vehicle/trailer or truck/slide-in camper combo), insurers require the vehicle's "garaging address," or the address where the vehicle spends most time.
(Insurance policies, of course, allow drivers to take road trips away from their vehicle's garaging address.)
visitor.us' terms of service prohibit using our address as a Garaging Address.
What address should I list for my insurance policy (for vehicles with living quarters)?
If your vehicle does have living quarters (such as a motorhome, or a vehicle/trailer or truck/slide-in camper combo), you are eligible for full-timer coverage (insurance designed for RV'ers and others who live in their vehicles full-time) which doesn't require a garaging address.
Owners of vehicles with living quarters should get in touch with [email protected] - Kyle leads the team at Thum dedicated to securing full-timer auto insurance for international visitors to the US.
visitor.us customers are welcome to provide visitor.us' address as a mailing address for full-time coverage.
Note on living quarters and timing
Insurance for your vehicle will typically only be available when your vehicle has living quarters. For example, if you buy a truck in January and a slide-in or pull-behind camper in February, coverage will not typically be available until February.
What if I don't have a garaging address, and my vehicle isn't a motorhome?
If you don't have a garaging address, and your vehicle isn't a motorhome, you aren't eligible for a standard auto insurance policy. You may be able to purchase a policy from a non-standard insurer like Prime Insurance, but the policy will be extremely expensive (on the order of $1,000 / month).
Can my vehicle be registered in one state and insured in another state?
While the vast majority of vehicles are insured and registered in the same US state, a handful of exceptions exist, for example:
Snowbirds - People who live in northern parts of the United States and spend winters in southern states, "snowbirds," need to switch insurance policies - from a New York policy to an Arizona policy, for example - even though their vehicle remains registered in New York. Insurers call this the "Snowbird Exception."
College Students - Most US states exempt full-time students from in-state vehicle registration requirements. For example, a person from Florida studying in California can keep his or her vehicle registered in Florida. However, the insurer may require a California policy for the vehicle to reflect the risks of the area where the vehicle spends most time.
Military Personnel - Active duty military personnel may keep their vehicle registered in their home state of record, even while stationed in another state. Their auto insurer may insure them on a policy issued in the state where they are stationed.
These exceptions show that there is no absolute rule that requires a vehicle to be registered and insured in the same state.
An insurance agent that I spoke to told me that my registration and insurance had to be in the same state. Is that right?
Each US state has a law that requires residents of that state to register their vehicle(s) in that state within a certain timeframe. For example, California requires you to register your vehicle within 30 days of becoming a California resident.
The vast, vast majority of people that insurance agents talk to are residents of one US state or another. Telling a resident of a US state that they can register their vehicle in one state and insure it in another state would be implicit encouragement of law breaking - something an insurance agent should never do.
However, if you are not a resident of any US state (because you live in the UK, for example), no US state's vehicle registration requirements apply to you. It's a distinction that the average insurance agent might not grasp.