Auto Insurance Quotes After You Get A Policy Cancellation

Nobody jumps up and down and says, “I'm going to have my auto insurance policy cancelled today!” Well, okay. I know I don't. Given how picky state laws are up here, I'm guessing most other drivers in the area don't either.

Sometimes, things happen. You forget to send out a bill. The ends just don't want to meet. You can't quite make the finances you have stretch. Etcetera. Etcetera.

It happens. I'm not recommending it. But it happens. The question is, what do you do after your policy's been cancelled?Simple. You go shopping for auto insurance quotes.

Doesn't a Policy Cancellation Count Against Me?

The first question a lot of people are going to have is what kind of effect their cancelled policy is going to have on their auto insurance quotes. The simplest answer is that letting your insurance lapse isn't going to do you any favors. A policy that's lapsed once, especially if the policy was lapsed for less than 30 days, isn't going to kill you.

Frequent lapses, on the other hand, are a different story altogether. Drivers who don't keep up with their premiums don't make most insurance companies' lists of favorite people. When you consider the fact that premiums are their bread and butter you can't really blame them.

Driving like a crazy person, living in a city that's built around I-95, and frequently letting your policy lapse (or letting it lapse for an extended period of time) makes you a risk. High risk drivers pay more for their coverage-assuming they're able to get coverage at all. The last thing you want is to land yourself on the list of your insurance company's most wanted.

If You Think Your Policy is Going to Lapse…...Call your insurance company. They may be able to help you lower your premiums, make arrangements for the cost of your overdue premium to be spread across your next couple of payments or otherwise help you out. What they can't do is help you if they don't know that you need to be helped.

Now Might Be the Right Time to Start Shopping Around. You don't want to drive without insurance for very long. It definitely benefits you to get your coverage back up and running as quickly as possible. That said, now might also be a good time to look at why your policy lapsed in the first place. Did you just have a month where things didn't work out the way you planned? Or are your premiums too high?

Either way, the primary problem is your ability to pay your premium. Unless you're willing to play the wild chess game that goes hand in hand with driving without insurance, complete with fines and violations and the potential financial ruin that goes alone with paying for an accident out of pocket, you're going to need to find a way to bring those premiums back into your price range.

The first step to more affordable premiums is, always, to go shopping around. Even if you're hoping to stay with your current carrier, you're going to want to know what the competition has to offer. That way, you have something to bring to the bargaining table.

I'd recommend gathering at least four quotes, if not more, before you make a decision regarding who's going to be responsible for your insurance. You can do that by hunting for quotes separately or taking advantage of a quote finding tool like the one we provide here at QuoteScout.

Why Do I Need Multiple Auto Insurance Quotes?

Valid question. Why do you need multiple auto insurance quotes?

How many stores offer a price match guarantee these days? You know what I'm talking about. The program where you go hunting through competitor catalogs to collect ads for cheap stuff, then take those ads to the store you REALLY want to go shopping at.

The store you usually shop at matches the price in the ad, because they want to keep your business. You walk away with a few extra bucks in your pocket. Everybody goes home happy.
That's kind of how it works when you're shopping for auto insurance quotes. Being able to put a competitor's price on the table, especially if that price is better than what your carrier of choice has to offer, gives you leverage to start bargaining them down. You can't bargain if you don't have any names and numbers to bargain with.

So, to recap. Letting your auto insurance lapse is bad. It opens the door to the risk of having to pay for an accident out of pocket, makes you less insurable, and could potentially put you in the position of having to pay more for your auto insurance. Lapses occur for any number of reasons, most of which could be positively impacted by lower premiums. Lower premiums come from shopping for auto insurance quotes.
That's it! You've got it! Now, go forth. And happy hunting

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