Your Questions About How To Get Car Insurance License

MyDigiResults answers:

OK, your first step is to make sure that your car is insured. Is it already insured? Call your insurance provider and advise them of your address change and they should be able to hook you up. Unlike health insurance, car insurance can be carried over state lines. However, if you do not have car insurance then it is easy enough to purchase car insurance even if you do not have a Virginia license yet. If worse comes to worse, you will have to purchase the “uninsured motorist” carrier from DMV which is pretty expensive.

Second step is to get your car a Safety Inspection. You can take it to one of thousands of garages in Virginia to get it inspected. Virginia regulates the price at $16. Since you are new to VA, I would take it to a chain such as Firestone/Mastercare or a dealer. (I will take my car to the shop a month before and have them go over it and tell me what needs to be repaired a head of time therefore I will take care of any major issues prior to inspection but this should not apply to your initial inspection.) Some counties around DC require you to get emissions testing done on your vehicle.

Now that you have insurance and a Safety Inspection sticker in your window, you need to go to DMV. Virginia requires proof of residence and US Citizenship. Bring a copy of your Birth Certificate and your SS Card. Do you have an apartment? Do you have any bills? Bank info? Bring copies to the DMV when you go.

The process used to be pretty easy, but has gotten much more complicated after the attacks on the World Trade Center.

I hope that this helps.

Good luck!

You will need to get the car titled and registered within 30 days. I have linked the process below.

MyDigiResults answers:

Yes. Unlike the DMV records, insurance companies keep a complete record of all your past offenses, not drop them after a certain amount of time. You will be asked about your TN violations when getting SC insurance, and the records will likely be checked.

MyDigiResults answers:

If the vehicle is insured, you are insured. Unless you are explicitly excluded from the policy. If you live with someone who is insured, then in most states you should be insured under their policy as a “resident relative”

MyDigiResults answers:

Yes, I can see how that could be a problem.

I would try to ask a friend or family member if you can be added to their policy so that you can receive your drivers license. Once you receive your license just take your self off their insurance their would be no need to stay on it if your not driving their car. Also their rate will most likely go up while you are on the policy but once you get take off it should return to normal. You will need to take care of the increase for them but explain the situation to them.

Good Luck!

MyDigiResults answers:

You can’t legally….

MyDigiResults answers:

Are you a resident, or a tourist? If a resident, get a license. If a tourist, your license is valid, but I doubt you will be able to buy and insure a car, rent perhaps,

Most of the time you can’t transfer the car into your name after the sale without insurance, and as you are finding, that isn’t easy to get.

MyDigiResults answers:

As other people have said, call an agent and explain your situation. Rates depend on the safety rating of the car, where you will park it at night, your age, mileage you will drive, etc. You can even go online and fill out the applications from various companies you see on TV and see what they quote or call them. Believe me, they will be happy to talk to you. I don’t think you can get car insurance if you don’t have a license, so I hope you don’t intend to drive without a license or drive uninsured.

If you don’t already have a car, still contact them because they can give you some idea of what price range you will be charged so you can compare companies, the amount of coverage, deductible, etc.

A lot of places let you pay by the month or quarterly, so you can shop around after you get your insurance if you need it immediately. Insurance companies will refund the balance of the insurance if you leave early.

I don’t know how easy it is for a 16 year old to get a policy, but I am sure you are not the only person who has had to face this. My state used to allow 15 year olds drive who had to be the transportation for handicapped parents.

Please don’t drive uninsured and don’t go car shopping without an adult who knows about cars. It is so easy to be taken advantage of or not know what to look for. Just because it starts doesn’t mean it will last.