Hi there. I would like to know if my Washington auto insurance company will notify me if they will not be renewing my policy before it policy will expires? I hope they do so I would have more time to find other company.

Michelle

East Seattle, WA

Generally yes, most Washington auto insurance company will notify you in advance whether they will not going to renew your policy.

In Washington State auto insurance companies are required to provide a twenty (20) day written notice with regards to non-renewal of a personal auto car insurance policy and a ten (10) written notice for cancellation due to non-payment of premium.

If you would like to know more information regarding this I suggest that you contact states insurance regulator. They will be able to give you more understanding what the insurance laws in your state regarding cancellation or non renewal notice or Washington auto insurance companies. They will also be able to inform you how much time are given to policyholders once the insurance company decides not to renew them.

How long after purchasing a vehicle do you have to obtain insurance in the State of Washington? What do I need to do to get a free quote?

Carl

Spokane, WA

According to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner for Washington state, the State requires individuals that operates a motor vehicle to have liability insurance. There is no grace period for car insurance liability.

The Washington state insurance regulator states that all insurance providers have different time requirements to add a newly acquired car to the policy. You would need to verify with your insurance company to know if there is a grace period for adding that new car to your existing policy.

If you do not already have an car insurance policy on any cars but are purchasing a vehicle then normally you will need to get insurance before leaving the lot with the vehicle. You can provide an insurance provider information on the car in advance so that the policy can be started.

To get a quote, just ask, call, email or submit your zip code to the advertisers to start the quote process.

I received a speeding ticket followed by an accident 30 days after in Washington State. How long will this affect my auto insurance rate?

Kevin

Bellevue, WA

Insurance providers in Washington may charge you more if you have been involved in an accident or have been convicted of one or more moving violations. This is referred to as surcharge. In addition to that, the more claims you file, the more likely your auto insurance rates will increase.

Since the Washington State insurance regulator does not provide any information that suggests the state has a restriction then it will be up to the individual insurance companies’ rating system to determine how long the citations and accident can affect your auto insurance rates. An insurance company will normally rate you on traffic violations and accidents for a period of 3, 5 or 7 years.

Basically the WA DOL ticket and the accident will both stay on your driving record for five years so it likely will be 3 or 5 years that your insurance company will rate you on these incidents. To find from your current insurance carrier and find out how long the speeding ticket and accident (plus claims if there were ones made) can affect your car insurance rates contact your agent.

Can you tell me the sort of coverage which will come with my Washington state SR22 auto insurance policy, if I buy just the minimum amount?

Jacob

Glad you asked, Jacob.

Washington state SR22 insurance can be bought with a fairly small amount of coverage, at least compared to a few other states. Since Washington is an at fault car insurance state, all you need to purchase to meet the minimum requirements of the auto insurance laws is liability coverage. Liability coverage includes property and injury liability. The property liability is the coverage for those damages made by the person who is found at fault for the accident (if said person is you), while the injury liability is for the injuries of the driver/passengers of the vehicle found not to be at fault, but not for the drivers or passengers of the at fault vehicle.

In Washington state SR22 policies, you must have the following amounts of each one of these:

• A $50,000 injury liability limit per crash, with $25,000 alotted to each person.
• $10,000 in property damage liability.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

When I get done with my Washington state SR22 filing, will my rates go back to what they were before?

Christa

Great question, Christa.

Well, a lot can change in three years, so I very much doubt that you would bounce completely back to the previous prices you had as soon as your SR22 filing was over. Besides that, you wouldn’t be able to bounce back to anything immediately after your filing ends and you get an unrestricted license, because your drunk driving incident or your accumulated traffic points, or whatever it was that put you on the road to license suspension, is going to stay on your record for a total of five years, meaning that after you finish your SR22 filing you will still have two years to deal with higher rates–they might not be quite so high, but they won’t go completely down.

But this is all the more reason to, even before your SR22 filing ends, be extra watchful of your driving and stay out of trouble on the road. Follow all of the rules, at least to the extent that keeps you flying under the radar, and you will be able to come out of it five years later with several years of an accumulating good driving record, which means you could immediately get a good driver’s discount.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

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

My son is in college in the state of Massachusetts but has a Washington state driver’s license. He is planning to buy a car but still undecided where to make her permanent address. He wants to get a policy also and still planning to stay in MA for 5 months. What can he do?

Lara

Thank you for asking Lara.

If your son is going to purchase a motor vehicle, he needs to have it registered and drive it in Massachusetts then she should get a MA car insurance policy to cover the motor vehicle. If she moves to another state after 5 months then she can register and insure the vehicle in her new state of residency.

Your son can also obtain information on how to register a motor vehicle in Massachusetts by contacting the MA Registry of Motor Vehicles. In addition to that, he may also get information from the RMV if she will need to switch her Washington State license for a Massachusetts driver’s license after she graduates from college since he may then be considered a resident of MA.

Goodluck!

MariCAR