Notify Your Insurance Carrier About New Vehicles

If you currently have an automobile insurance policy and later acquire a new vehicle, does your new vehicle automatically get covered under your existing policy?  It depends on the specific language of your existing policy.  If your policy states that it covers all current and newly acquired vehicles, then your policy likely automatically provides the same coverage to your new vehicle.  A newly acquired vehicle can refer to a vehicle you get to replace another vehicle as well as to an additional vehicle.

Importantly, many automatic coverage provisions to newly acquired vehicles require an insured to notify the insurance carrier or agent of the new vehicle within a certain amount of time in order to be covered under the existing policy.  Grace periods can range from a few days to a month, depending on the policy.  Failing to notify an insurance carrier or agent of the newly acquired vehicle can render it uninsured.

Additionally, if your policy does not have a provision for newly acquired vehicles, then there is no automatic coverage grace period at all for your newly acquired vehicle.  Before buying the new vehicle, you should notify your insurance carrier or agent of the vehicle to ensure it will be covered either by your existing policy or a separate policy by the time you first drive it off the dealer’s lot.  Otherwise, you risk being uninsured for that vehicle.