I just bought a car here in Washington State. What’s my grace period for getting car insurance to avoid getting a penalty?

Jenny

Seattle WA

There’s no grace period for a liability coverage according to the Insurance Commissioner of Washington state. Also, the grace period to adding another vehicle to your insurance policy would be different from one company to another. It is important then to check with your insurer the maximum time required to file or add your newly bought vehicle to your existing policy. Most dealers would often require a physical damage coverage before it leaves the dealership.

If you’re replacing an old car to your policy, most insurers would extend that existing policy to your new car. If you’re adding a new car to your policy, you could inquire whether they would extend your existing policy for a certain amount of time or should you add the new vehicle to your policy with the required coverage.

If you’re just about to get an insurance policy on your car, then it is more practical to give your preferred auto insurance company an update on the type of car you’re planning to buy before it actually leaves the dealership. Request your dealership a fax of the car information to work with your insurer the practical coverage to apply.

Is SR22 insurance a type of insurance policy? I’d like to know more about this since I’ve heard a few things about this. Thanks

Gilbert

Spokane, WA

In reality, SR22 insurance is not a kind of insurance coverage. It is more of a certification from an insurance company issued to a state’s department of motor vehicles stating that the holder is covered by an insurance company. SR22 insurance is usually required from drivers who have ran into major traffic violations such as DUI. Those who were caught driving without vehicle insurance are also required to show SR22 insurance, as well as those who were involved in car accidents without proper insurance coverage.

SR22 insurance in Washington can be expensive. Most insurers in your area will charge you with high premiums and insurance rates because once you are requested to give SR22 insurance, you are considered as high risks by insurers. SR22 insurance in Washington should be maintained by the driver for the next three years. SR22 insurance must be carried by the driver, or else he faces graver consequences.

I’ve had a few traffic violation citations here in Washington State. How will my driving history affect my vehicle insurance policy rates? The latest violation I had happened 2 months ago.

Anthony,

Bellevue, WA

The Washington State Office notes that auto insurance companies must compute the vehicle insurance rates based on the dollar amount. This base rate must be adjusted according to certain factors determined by the auto insurance company. These are gender, age, marital status, model and make of the vehicle, driving history, credit history, claims history, and geographical area. The vehicle insurance carrier may impose an additional charge if you have been in an accident or you have violated a traffic rule. This is referred to as a surcharge.

The WA Department of Leasing (DOL) notes that convictions and violations or infractions will be kept in your driving record for five years upon the conviction date. For collisions, this will be recorded in your MVR. The record will show who are involved in the incident, whether one or none of the involved parties were parked when the incident happened, the persons affected and the type of injury it caused them. For private vehicles, the incident will stay in the driver’s record for 5 years, while for commercial vehicles, it’s 10 years.

In WA, the auto insurance company decides on how long the violations or accidents could affect a driver’s vehicle’s insurance rate. However, most insurance companies will rate you based on your moving violations for a period of 3, 5 or 7 years, depending on the frequency of occurrence of the violations and accidents.

A: Your Seattle non owner SR22 policy is costing you because it’s missing a pretty big puzzle piece which car insurance companies require in order to put together the best picture of what your rates should be–a car. Even if you drive the same car all the time with your non owner policy, it can’t be factored into your insurance policy, so your company has to rate your policy as if you were driving a riskier car because they can’t know what car it is you’re using.

You can save money on your Seattle non owner SR22 premium by getting discounts. Many of the available discounts require cars, but there are those which don’t. You could try getting all of your insurance policies on a multi line with one company, for example, or you could take a few classes in defensive driving. You could take in your transcript if you’re a student, a degree if you’re in engineer, or you could join a car club or a teacher’s union in order to get a discount. Get a list of discounts from your car insurance company and circle the ones which would apply to you, and then ask the company to apply them.

A: As they say, when you do the crime, you got do the time. SR22 rates are punitive, and while it may be extremely unpleasant having to pay such high rates during the time you have to file SR22, it is a successful deterrent. However, that’s no why your rates are so high.

As a matter of fact, SR22 rates are high because policy holders who must have an SR22 filed on their behalf are considered to be very risky to insure. An attitude like that stems from the fact that most people who have a SR22 insurance policy have one because they were convicted of drunk driving–obviously prey easy to cause an accident that way.

Since car insurance companies measure what they charge you according to the risk you pose to them, such factors play a big part. If you have to have, then you will pay more into the insurance pool than will people who have never made a driving mistake in their lives, have mid sized economic hybrid cars, are middle aged, and so on.

A: A Washington SR22 is required in many situations. For those who go driving uninsured and end up crashing with another car, their license can be revoked when they are unable to produce proof of insurance. More often, a license is suspended for a drunk driving conviction, and this is the most common violation associated with SR22s and one of the main reasons they cost so much.

If you must file a Washington SR22, then you must find a company which will give you a policy first before you get your license unsuspended. Whatever company you find will send a form to your driver’s department every month, so long as you pay your bill, for three years. If they don’t send it along, then your driver’s license will be suspended.

You are required to get the same amount of insurance on a Washington SR22 policy as any other driver in the state, which means you must have $25,000 for bodily injury per person, a total of $50,000 bodily injury per accident, and also $10,000 for property damage. It may be safer for your credit to get higher limits.

Can you please tell me the fine if I drive without an insurance in the state of Washington?

Markus

Thank you for asking Markus.

Washington State mandatory insurance law, listed in Title 46 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), states that motorist must carry with them an insurance identification card showing proof that you have a valid vehicle insurance policy. The current mandatory limits for WA are 25/50/10.

These numbers stand for:

$25,000 total for bodily injury per person,

$50,000 total for bodily injury coverage per accident and

$10,000 total for property damage per accident.

If you are found driving a motor vehicle without having proof of insurance or of the mandatory insurance law you are committing an infraction. This violation of the law is punishable by a minimum fine of $250. There may be other fees that can be added to this fine.To get more information of the exact amount of your fine you may contact the court on the ticket.

A ticket for driving without insurance is like any other moving violation and will become part of your WA driving record.

To make sure you have at least the Washington state minimum auto insurance coverages so to avoid penalties, you may contact your insurance company.

Goodluck!

MariCAR