July 14th, 2011 | 
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Auto insurance is the most common thing that most people didn’t prepare for during car lease process. After the long battle with the car salesman on your favorite lease deal, you finally think you can drive home your new ride once you’re done signing some paper work with the finance manager. But wait! Do you know they won’t let you drive the car off the lot if you don’t have car insurance with required liability coverage?
Most car lease companies require following auto insurance coverage:
- Liability coverage: $100k per person/ $300k per occurrence
- Property liability coverage: $50k
- Comprehensive and collision deductible < $500
If you don’t already have auto insurance nor your insurance coverage does not qualify the above requirements, there is still one option to take the car home with you, which is purchasing a temporary auto insurance coverage for 3-5 days from the dealership for a premium price. If you current auto insurance coverage meets the requirement, for most insurers, your current policy will cover the new car for a certain grace period. You should check with your current insurer for details.
Thanks to the Internet, auto insurance comparison-shopping is so easy nowadays to avoid paying the extra money at the dealership or to even get the best rate for sufficient car insurance coverage for car leases. There are many factors that decide your auto insurance costs: vehicle make and model, insurance coverage, your driving history and record, credit score, etc. Cars have higher repair cost usually cost more to insure. Cars are in the top most-stolen list in the country also cost more to insure. Sports cars cost more to insure than Sedans.
However, there are a huge variety of discounts from different auto insurance companies to make their plans competitive, such as good driver discount, scholar/engineer discount, good student discount, Anti-theft device discount, multiple cars discount, bundling with home insurance discount, etc. Thus, as a smart consumer, it is very important to shop around for the best premium and coverage. Take advantage of auto insurance companies’ websites that offer you a quote as quick as 5 minutes. You simply punch in some info of yourself and the car you are going to lease. They will return with a quote. You are under no obligation to accept their quotes and it is free of charge; you shop until you get the rates that works for you.
So before heading off to the dealership to negotiate your car lease deal, purchase insurance first or check if you current insurance is sufficient for car leases. Chances are you didn’t realize you could save more money with a new insurance company with better coverage.