Florida requires insurance for cars, driven or not

[hockeyteeth]

I recently found out the hard way that in Florida you are responsible to have valid insurance on your car regardless of whether you drive it or not. So if you are involved in an accident, even while walking or cycling, and the other person involved is found guilty, their insurance will deduct the amount of Personal Injury Protection insurance which is required by law from your settlement.

I live in Forida, and Personal Injury Protection is mandatory, maybe it isn't in your state. But I just thought I'd give a heads up because I think it is ridiculous you are REQUIRED to have insurance on a car you don't drive. Hope the explanation wasn't too difficult to comprehend!

[-=£em in Pa=-]

I think it has to do with the tag, right ???
If your car has an up-to-date tag it must have insurance ??
If this is the case, I think most states have that. In the 80's
a State Policeman came to my house collect the tag off of a
car I had that the insurance lapsed on :eek:

[knobster]

That's correct. It has to do with the registration. If the car is registered, it has to have insurance. If you live in an apartment, they require you to have a valid tag on the car regardless if you drive it or not. This is a state that dropped the helmet law for motorcycles, but kept the seat belt law. Doesn't make sense.

[Spaceman Spiff]

That's insane. I thought we had all the crazy laws in Ontario and you were smarter down there, but I guess that's not always the case. In Ontario it's perfectly legal to own a car that's not insured, whether it's registered or not. But you need to show proof of insurance in order to get it registered.

[bmclaughlin807]

Actually, most states (Ok, I only know for a fact of 5 states, but those have been every state where I've lived that I owned a vehicle that was parked for a while) will waive the requirement to have insurance IF you sign and return the paper that says you're not driving the vehicle. ie: It's parked permanently on your property or garaged. Of course, if you then get caught driving it, you're in that much more trouble.

My truck is currently parked without insurance, in fact. BUT... Here in Denver you can't park it on the street or in a parking lot and not have insurance on it... it's an 'inoperable' vehicle by the law's definition, and as such isn't allowed to be parked in those places. It has to be in your private yard or inside a garage.

Oh.. .and I know of at least three ways around the automatic insurance checks/notifications (Not that I'll share them here :p )

[Roody]

For all of these insurance threads, laws vary widely from state to state and even more by country. Michigan is a no-fault state, meaning your own insurance covers you, regardless of who's at fault in an accident. You MUST have insurance or you will be criminally and civilly liable.

If you own an uninsred car, take the battery out or otherwise make it undrivable, as you may be liable for any damage and injuries involving the car, even if it's stolen or driven without your permission.

[stevelon]

Not only insurance but valid plates as well. When my daughter was overseas she parked her car in our drive and as she was not in the US, as property owners we got a ticket for no insurance and no current plates. The fact that I could not put plates or insurance on the car as I was not the owner made no difference. The state then sent notice to the city of Cocoa Beach who fined me under the cities nusance ordenance. We're not talking about a junker here set up on blocks or something. This was a two year old car. Lucky I guess that she returned home before the step which was to impound the car.

[bmclaughlin807]

Not only insurance but valid plates as well. When my daughter was overseas she parked her car in our drive and as she was not in the US, as property owners we got a ticket for no insurance and no current plates. The fact that I could not put plates or insurance on the car as I was not the owner made no difference. The state then sent notice to the city of Cocoa Beach who fined me under the cities nusance ordenance. We're not talking about a junker here set up on blocks or something. This was a two year old car. Lucky I guess that she returned home before the step which was to impound the car.

Either your city officials and/or police have WAY too much free time on their hands, or you pissed off one of your neighbors. They won't even ticket vehicles in violation around here unless there's a complaint. The apartments I lived in had 6 vehicles in the parking lot (20 spaces) at one time that were all in violation, and they only got warnings because someone who lived across the street called the city and complained after she was kicked off the property and had a restraining order placed against her.

[knobster]

Not only insurance but valid plates as well. When my daughter was overseas she parked her car in our drive and as she was not in the US, as property owners we got a ticket for no insurance and no current plates. The fact that I could not put plates or insurance on the car as I was not the owner made no difference. The state then sent notice to the city of Cocoa Beach who fined me under the cities nusance ordenance. We're not talking about a junker here set up on blocks or something. This was a two year old car. Lucky I guess that she returned home before the step which was to impound the car.

That's nuts huh? It's one of those things where the law was put into place to take care of a problem (cars on blocks) and ended up taking on much more than it should have. One of the reasons I moved out of Florida. I do miss not having to pay state tax..

[Air]

I believe in NY you have to put a cover over it. Stupid laws....

[bbonnn]

In California, you pay for Planned Non Operation (PNO) status. It's a way for your car to remain registered without being driven, even if it's parked on private property. If you drive it, you get a ticket.

[StokerPoker]

where I live, if a car is not registered (or expired registration), not insured, inoperable, wrecked or partially dismantled it has to be in a garage. you can not have a car in the above stated conditions anywhere on your property unless it is in a garage. we've had many problems with this over the years since my family had older cars for quite some time that were not driven, or being repaired. when I bought my new(er) car I transfered the plate from my old one to it and the old one was at the end of the driveway, backed in(michigan only has rear plates) with a for sale sign. I got a violation notice stating the car had to be plated and insured or removed from the property within 10 days.