Last week I switched car insurance company and coverage was offered in the literal same day, all over the phone. In comparison, three weeks seems like an eternity.

That’s just semantics though. Whatever an “eternity” means to you, it’s still three weeks. And is very different from not being available at all.

Not being able to drive for 3 weeks is not an option for a lot of people. It’s not “semantics”

Ok and not being able to drive for 3 weeks is different from not being able to drive ever.

But maybe it is a big deal? You shifted from your previous statement.

Can you give an example where it’s a big deal?

Just about everywhere in America requires you to drive to work. If you can't drive for 3 weeks, you can't work for 3 weeks. Do you see why this might be a problem

That only makes sense as a problem if you previously had a car and then lost it, in which case your grace period should cover you.

Grace and Insurance really don't belong in the same sentence. They are stingy enough to deal with as is, even when you have photo evidence of no fault in the crash.

Can’t say that holds up to scrutiny personally

three weeks of spotty or delayed attendance can lose one a job

most of the people with the option to remote work are working decent white-collar jobs, so add this to the long tally of policies that are designed to help but only hurt the poor

> three weeks of spotty or delayed attendance can lose one a job

Under what conditions will a person have a job that they are expected to be at, but not have car insurance to get there? I'm sure this exists (for instance for someone whose policy is revoked for DUI or accident or whatever), but in many cases I assume public transit or a three week wait to start is acceptable.

Three week wait to start is not acceptable for my slightly over minimum wage job on the other side of town or in the next city over.

This is a weird hill to die on. best of luck to you

Suppose you need a car to get to work?

Which company please?

In most of the US, just about all of the large national direct-sales insurers operates sales 24/7 and will write you a policy in 20 minutes at 3am if you want: State Farm, GEICO, Progressive, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Farmers, Travelers, etc.

Yes sorry, should have specified, in California? California is having this problem currently. I am also used to California auto insurance working fine and quickly but that's not the case currently.

Not the person you asked, but my USAA auto insurance was valid at 12:01 AM next day, and I filled out the application at 6 PM.

Thanks sorry, should have specified: In California?

with toggle i got same day in california a few days ago

Same here, but via web chat

Btw, Outside California Many companies price cheaper if the insurance start date is X days after the purchase date. X is more than 1.

Lol it's usually literally 5 minutes for me to buy a new car insurance. What's this weeks of lead time? This is not some physical good you need to manufacture and ship!

This is the lead up to them exiting the state like in Florida (and California for other types of insurance). I believe state farm and allstate have already exited california, but I may be wrong.

Three weeks delay is just the most visible thing, they are basically pulling out all the stops to try to avoid covering as many people as possible.

But even 3 weeks delay in driving a vehicle you just purchased is considerable.

What do you do, just drive around uninsured for 3 weeks in your new car and hope nothing happens?

You wait. I’m not saying it doesn’t suck.

How does that work? Do you just hope no one buys the car in the meantime? Or will the dealer let you store it with them?

You can drive a car home without insurance. A quick google suggests californias grace period is 30 days.

It may be allowed, but who pays in case of an accident?

Your prior insurance covers you for a while

Most (all?) dealers in California offer some kind of 24/48 hour insurance for you to legally drive home. The prices are sort of ridiculous when compared to normal car insurance ($50-$100 for a couple days of coverage IIRC), but thats just a function of the risk profile and the fixed underwriting costs of a short policy.

You aren’t allowed to drive without insurance

New Hampshire is the only state in the US that does not require liability insurance. If you drive through NH, make sure you have uninsured coverage. (and it is a good idea anywhere)

It is legal to drive without liability insurance in almost every state… you just have to post a $20k-$50k bond with the state.

Yea but if the costs of accident exceed that bond you still have to cover it if your at fault.

Plus most medical expenses quickly will exceed those bond values these days. Maybe decades ago if you had a lot money to just set aside getting no interest on it it may have made sense.

However the costs of medical and even cars today make it quite a risky proposition

Laws haven’t kept up with rising costs, so the amount of coverage you are required to have in most states won’t cover the average accident, let alone catastrophic ones. Same with the amount you have to bond for.

That's not any different than with car insurance. If the costs of a car accident exceed your limits you have to pay it too.

Ahh yes, the "legal if rich" clause. classic.

It really. Anyone with money has good coverage plus umbrella.

I looked into it as I prefer to self-insure for any non-catastrophic risk.

It makes absolutely no sense for me to post a bond for such a small amount when I can get ~10x the coverage, plus all the claims handling, for $1200/yr for two cars and two drivers.

It would make sense if I was a business who had hundreds of cars or some other weird corner case perhaps, but regular people who could afford to post a bond have a better option in the insurance market.

It makes no sense to self insure like you said. You would get totally screwed in any split risk decision

LOL $20k-$50k? If that other driver ends up in the hospital at all you are SOL.

That’s no less than the state mandated liability coverage in most areas.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/minimum-car-ins...

Hospitalizations are not covered in many states. You have to cover your own medical costs

Even if hospital costs aren't covered the average US car price in 2024 is close to $50k and a totaled car is definitely covered. Lord help you if you hit a Hummer EV or a Cyberbeast.

Yeah the minimum coverage is no longer enough. But that’s always been a problem if you hit a Bentley or exotic. People who drive 100k cars should really have to cover that extra repair cost with their own insurance but that’s not how most state laws work.

Virginia also does not require liability insurance, but they impose an additional tax if you want to drive without it.

We're only 5 weeks into this new rule.