My brother and I inherited a PT Cruiser as apart of my mother’s estate and plan to sell it. It is now locked in the garage of her unoccupied residence. Can anyone tell me about what we need to keep for insurance in order to show the car? Her insurance company told me to just keep the insurance. I have read about pay-as-you-go insurance offered through state farm that is popular for show cars. Any ideas about what is best?
Out here ( NM ) all you’d need to qualify to meet proof of insurance is basic liabilty coverage.
If the car is still registered and has a plate on it, then you should keep the insurance too. If “showing” the car means someone could take it for a test drive, insurance is required to do this legally and to protect you and others in case of an accident. Yes, accidents have occurred during test drives.
If the car is parked in the garage and the plate has been taken off the car you can take a chance and not insure it. This means no test drives on public roads. The insurance carrier might require a receipt from NY DMV or State Police to document the plate was turned in.
I’d keep the insurance and plate on the car until it is sold. Once it is sold take the plate off the car and keep it in case you need to turn it in. Call the insurance company the day the car is given over to the new owner and cancel the insurance, the company will send a refund on the unused premium. The check will likely be in your mother’s name and sent to the address on the policy.
If you sell it in a month or two, the cost of continuing the insurance should be low enough that it is not worth your time to get a new policy. You already talked to her insurer, so it appears that continuing the policy as part of her estate is not a problem.
I would agree to just keep the insurance on it if they will let you. Depending on the NY requirements, all you legally need to have is liability, but what if it is vandalized, stolen, crashed on a test drive, and so on? As the Executor of the estate, you have a duty to safeguard the assets of the estate which would mean keeping insurance on the vehicle to guard against loss.
You only have to have ins if it’s registered…As long as it’s registered then you need liability ins.