Buying a new car; can I drive it home before getting it insured?

[btimbit]

This might seem like a stupid question, but I honestly can't find an answer. I've read that I have 48 hours to insure it, I've read that I have 14 days, and I've read that I have to insure it beforehand.

Do I need to have it completely insured before I can even drive it home? I know I have 14 days for registration, but the insurance I'm unsure about. I also read that as long as I have the bill of sale with me I have a little bit of time before it has to be insured and registered. I even called my current insurance company and the heavily accented guy I talked with wasn't much help either.

Can anyone shed some light on the situation here? A friend said I can take my current license plate and put that on it, and as long as I have the bill of sale I can drive it home worry-free. But this friend is also a bit of an idiot, and I want a bit more than his word.

My apologizes if this is in the wrong section, it's law related so I figured it was okay here.

[masoncgy]

It has to be insured, period.

How could someone have 48 hours to drive a vehicle without insurance? How does that make any sense? What happens if you cause an accident & kill someone?

You can get away with not having it registered for 14 days because that carries no liability or risk to anyone else.

[Tik-Tok]

You require insurance on the vehicle before you drive it, no matter what.

If you are transferring plates, you can put your old plate on your new car, and have 14 days to officially transfer it.

[arian_ma]

14 days is for the registration, which you can wait on.

Your car HAS to have insurance before you can turn it on and drive it legally. Call up your insurance company with the VIN, they'll do it for you and send you a temporary insurance slip in an email, then mail out the real thing to you right away.

[G-ZUS]

Not this again. You can drive it, there is a clause in your insurance policy that allows you drive your new vehicle for 14 days.

[btimbit]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
Not this again. You can drive it, there is a clause in your insurance policy that allows you drive your new vehicle for 14 days.

This is where it gets confusing. My understanding is I can't drive it all all until it's insured, but then occasionally people say that I can which just gets my hopes up, haha.

I'm trying to find an old thread about the same thing that I remember seeing not too long ago.

[masoncgy]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
Not this again. You can drive it, there is a clause in your insurance policy that allows you drive your new vehicle for 14 days.

What?

What if you've never had insurance before? How can one have a 'clause' in their insurance policy if no policy exists?

LOL... good one!

[Masked Bandit]

G-ZUS is correct, sort of.

There is a clause in the SP#1 (legal framework of a basic auto policy) that applies to newly acquired automobiles. There are a bunch of conditions that must be met in order for the coverage to apply so the OP will want to review the situation with his specific agent but it can be done, legally.

OP, you mentioned that the person you spoke with wasn't much help. Can you ask for a manager or something?

[btimbit]

I recall reading this a while ago on beyond, and it is what has me confused;

Originally posted by sr20s14zenki


you have 14 days from the date of purchase, provided you have sold the old vehicle (keep the bill of sale). Its stated in SPF-1 under "Newly Aquired Vehicle"

i got a no insurance ticket and no registration from the cops, i pleaded with him about that, and he wouldnt listen, towed and everything. Well, i got my day in court, and brought in all my documentation including my brokers letter saying it was true, bam, tickets thrown out.

Dont push it, but just so you know, if you NEED to drive your new car on the weekend WHEN THEY ARE ALL CLOSED you can use that rule, that is what it was made.

Edit: Thanks MaskedBandit. I didn't catch your post until after I made this one. Thanks for the info, I'll try calling them back and talking to somebody else.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by btimbit


This is where it gets confusing. My understanding is I can't drive it all all until it's insured, but then occasionally people say that I can which just gets my hopes up, haha.

It's confusing because of people that just say "yep it's legal", without giving ANY kind of back up to the statements.

If someone asked you, would you rather give the blanket statement "No you can't, get insurance slip first", or "Oh yeah, totally legal, go right on ahead"

[dirtsniffer]

yea as long as you have a car insured, you can transfer the plate onto a newly purchased car (must have bill of sale for proooove) for a while, same with registration.
I've done it many times because my father who is a broker instructed me to

[leftwing]

why not call your insurance company and ask?

I know when I bought my new car about 5 months ago I called my insurance and asked what to do because I was picking my car up in edmonton and driving it back to calgary. I wasnt ready to risk my car on a 3 hours drive.

What my insurance company told me is they would need me to have title in hand before they would insure it, which makes sence because they dont want to risk insureing someone elses car. So When i got there and made the sale final i had to call them with the vin and they instantly emailled me a temp insurance slip after asking me all sorts of questions like does it have antitheft/alarm, electric or standard seatbelts, passenger airbag, etc. so they knew what they were temporarily insuring.

Just call your company and they will clear it up with you within 1 minute.

I think most people just assume the risk of putting an existing plate on a newly aquired car because they are only driving it 15 min across the city to their house, which ive done before, but im sure it isnt legal.

[btimbit]

Originally posted by leftwing
why not call your insurance company and ask?

I know when I bought my new car about 5 months ago I called my insurance and asked what to do because I was picking my car up in edmonton and driving it back to calgary. I wasnt ready to risk my car on a 3 hours drive.

What my insurance company told me is they would need me to have title in hand before they would insure it, which makes sence because they dont want to risk insureing someone elses car. So When i got there and made the sale final i had to call them with the vin and they instantly emailled me a temp insurance slip after asking me all sorts of questions like does it have antitheft/alarm, electric or standard seatbelts, passenger airbag, etc. so they knew what they were temporarily insuring.

Just call your company and they will clear it up with you within 1 minute.

I think most people just assume the risk of putting an existing plate on a newly aquired car because they are only driving it 15 min across the city to their house, which ive done before, but im sure it isnt legal.

I did talk to them, three times now, and they haven't been much help. When I spoke with them there was just a communication barrier, I honestly had no idea what they were saying.

I'm just going to go the safe route and wait. The problem I was having is by the time we have a bill of sale done, all the insurance companies are closed, so basically my car would have to sit on a strangers driveway until my work schedule allows me to get insurance set up, which wouldn't be for a few days. That's why I was wondering if I had any other way of getting it here.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by btimbit


I'm just going to go the safe route and wait. The problem I was having is by the time we have a bill of sale done, all the insurance companies are closed, so it would have to sit uninsured on the sellers driveway until my work schedule allows me to get insurance set up, which wouldn't be for a few days. That's why I was wondering if I had any other way of getting it here.

You can get insurance on it, before you actually buy the car. If something goes awry, and you don't buy it, just cancel.

[Unknown303]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


You can get insurance on it, before you actually buy the car. If something goes awry, and you don't buy it, just cancel.

This.

Just get your insurance on the new vehicle sorted out before going down. I did it with my Jeep and there wasn't any issues.

[Xtrema]

All insurance need from you is model of vehicle (may be VIN#) and start date. I'm sure you can get all that info way ahead of the car pick up and can be done/updated in less than 10mins.

Plate transfer is illegal. But at least it give cops the appearance that the car is registered.

It's the seller's interest that you properly registered and insured the car before letting you leave with it anyway.

[g-m]

Originally posted by btimbit


I did talk to them, three times now, and they haven't been much help. When I spoke with them there was just a communication barrier, I honestly had no idea what they were saying.

I'm just going to go the safe route and wait. The problem I was having is by the time we have a bill of sale done, all the insurance companies are closed, so basically my car would have to sit on a strangers driveway until my work schedule allows me to get insurance set up, which wouldn't be for a few days. That's why I was wondering if I had any other way of getting it here.

yea that kills me. WHY do companies hire people who are ESL in customer relations positions??? Understandable english to a native Calgarian should be a prerequisite to dealing with customers. Otherwise, DON'T HIRE THEM! Banks are THE WORST. I can't understand them standing 6" from them.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by g-m
WHY do companies hire people who are ESL in customer relations positions???

They work for $5 a day?

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Xtrema
A

Plate transfer is illegal. But at least it give cops the appearance that the car is registered.

Better tell that to the IT guy in charge of updating the Governments website.

http://transportation.alberta.ca/1951.htm

And the people printing the Basic Drivers Handbook.

http://www.transportation.alberta.ca...nbookmay08.pdf

[calgary403]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Better tell that to the IT guy in charge of updating the Governments website.

http://transportation.alberta.ca/1951.htm

And the people printing the Basic Drivers Handbook.

http://www.transportation.alberta.ca...nbookmay08.pdf