Vehicle Insurance

[Barefootgirl]

When you became a nomad, did you have any issues related to your vehicle insurer? 

Specifically, did you need a garaging address? did they accept that?

If you had a claim, were there any problems because you are using a garaging address or mail forwarding address?

Thank you.

 

[obeynoone]

i've been living out of a van for about 8 years and never had a problem. people for the most part don't care about your individual situation. they just have to enter data into a box and click next for the whole system to work. so here is what i did in the beginning, and what i do now.

i rented a place to stay, and then when i set up my drivers license i used a mailing address instead of my actual address. so all mail went to a po box. everytime i had to deal with the anyone i just put in the same info even though i had only rented the place for a couple of months. sign up for insurance online, use your po box as your home address, or the address where the car is stored. they could easily go to google maps and find out it is just a po box, but they dont. because they done care, they are just putting data into boxes and doing the minimum amount of work required for their job.

my most recent version of this is i bought some remote land, where there is no mail delivery. so i have to use a po box. the land was cheap, and there is nothing there even if you could find it (which you cant because there are no road signs or printed addresses out there). my drivers license had the address of my land, i use a po box, because there is no mail delivery, and i have paper work proving that i own property.

dont make a claim, insurance is a scam. drive carefully, and save money to cover your expenses, or unexpected problems. having insurance is just another piece of paper to make you look legit,.

 

[lenny flank]

Virtually all normal policies have a clause limiting you to being away from your registered address no more than six months out of the year.

So legally they can refuse coverage if you violate that. Whether they actually choose to make an issue of it is up to them.

 

[Gypsy Freedom]

i have been refused insurance when i had a private mailbox as my address. they straight up told me they look at online maps and that the address i gave was just a shopping center and they needed a physical address. this was in oregon about 8years ago. i forget who that was or who i ended up with. but in the long run i was able to use a friends house address as residence and a digital mail forwarding address to receive mail. my current situation i am using the address of a business i ran a few years back for location and a mailing address with the mail forwarder

the state of oregon also issues drivers licenses to
"homeless" people and just put a "location" on the license. the one i saw stated "behind the bowling alley city oregon" where the address would go. when i called the oregon dmv to inquire ther confirmed they would do that and just wanted a general location you normally slept like a mile marker on a highway or an intersection. i have wanted to do that myself, but a little worried about the insurance.

also, that wont fly as a realID so who knows how that will pan out

 

[lenny flank]

i have been refused insurance when i had a private mailbox as my address.

Me too, in both Florida and Pennsylvania. Apparently the insurance companies have those addresses in a database, and the computer will identify it and kick it out. 
In Pennsylvania, I had to provide documentary proof of a residential address even though I was not getting a Real ID license (I already have a passport).

 

[Kaylee]

Lenny, who do you insure with (only if you're comfortable disclosing)?