Best car insurance and SC dmv standards? (Greenville, Pickens: transplants, leasing)

[ByeByeFlorida]

Hello well I will be making the move to Greenville in the next 4 weeks and would like to know which auto insurance everyone is using and the pros and cons of the companies? Plus, when should a transplant get a rate quote for car insurance in SC? When I move there or should I do it now?

Also, for the new transplants to Greenville: How easy was the transition from your out of state license to a SC one? (Including the actual licenses, tags, and such). Please give me as much info as possible as I will also have to fork over my FL drivers license for a SC.

Thanks in advance!

[Reverb]

Hi ByeBye!

My husband and I just closed on our new home in the Greenville area on Oct 29- we escaped South Florida by the skin of our teeth- thank you, Jesus!

You are probably going to react the way I did as far as the drivers license transition..lol. The confusing part was the order in which you must do things. But, a piece of cake and extremely, and I mean extremely, inexpensive.

As far as insurance, we went with Allstate- as they are also carrying our home-owners insurance and offer a pretty nice combo discount. Let me just say, I am getting 4x's the coverage on our cars at 1/4 of the price, compared to FL! it's easiest if you have your insurance in place before beginning the whole process.

SC requires that you pay a personal property tax on your vehicle. I was a little scared about that- I mean- how much? The tax on my 2005 Toyota 4Runner was 129.00! you have 30 days to pay this tax after you've moved here.

After you've paid the tax collector, you head on down to the DMV. You must bring- the paid tax receipt, car title or proof of lien, proof of address (if you've gotten your insurance card- they'll accept that. Your HUD statement will also serve as proof) You'll need your birth certificate and marriage license (if you're a woman. If you are a man, and have changed your name from what's on the BC- proof of change) TIP- If you have a passport- you won't need the BC and ML.

You are only required to take the eye exam for license transfer. You can register and tag your vehicle all at the same time. It's great!

Our licenses, tags, registration etc etc cost a grand total of 89.00!

Hope this helped!

[karoga]

One additional note: if you are a woman & were married previously you also need your marriage license(s) from your prior marriage(s). I brought the license from my current marriage which had my previous married name on it - but had to go back with the previous license to show how I got that name.

What they want is documentation to show and name changes from your birth certif to present name.

[myrc60]

If you wear glasses to correct your vision you might want to be a little leery of the eye exam. Though I can pass with restrictions in Illinois just fine...SC was not easy. Illinois made adjustments to the exam to suit my vision but SC won't do that. If you have an astigmatism know what numbers you see vs what is really there...we were allowed to somewhat guess our way through this but hubby almost didn't make it. If you fail...go to an eye doctor for a vision exam and tell them you need an affidavit from him for DMV.

[greatspark]

Originally Posted by ByeByeFlorida

Hello well I will be making the move to Greenville in the next 4 weeks and would like to know which auto insurance everyone is using and the pros and cons of the companies? Plus, when should a transplant get a rate quote for car insurance in SC? When I move there or should I do it now?

Also, for the new transplants to Greenville: How easy was the transition from your out of state license to a SC one? (Including the actual licenses, tags, and such). Please give me as much info as possible as I will also have to fork over my FL drivers license for a SC.

Thanks in advance!

2/10/08 I'm in the same boat you are!!!! Please let me know what you find out! Thanks...Tony.......greatspark@sbcglobal.net

[BuddyDog]

We found Progressive to be the most competitive even though Allstate wants you to think they have the best rates in the area. State Farm was almost double what we pay with Progressive. Our rates with Progressive did increase a bit over FL, about 5-7%.

No joke on all the documentation you need to get your license if you are a married female. I had my bc, social security card, passport, marriage license. If I was robbed someone would have had a field day with my identity so it would be more secure if they came up with a better way to confirm identity. I mean really, it took me days to find my ssc packed away that hadn't seen the light of day in years!

Then after all that making sure I was who I said I was, I got my new SC license without restrictions even though my FL license said I needed corrective lenses. Guess I don't need them here? lol

[BuddyDog]

PS - our Progressive policy issued in FL covered us in SC until the end of the FL policy. I just called them to tell them I moved, and then they sent me a new quote for SC.

According to the SC DMV site SC Department of Motor Vehicles you have 90 days to get a SC license.

[myrc60]

When you receive a quote they don't roll-in the discounts you will get when you have multiple policies. With those discounts Allstate is the cheapest in the state for us.

[Allentown]

Originally Posted by ByeByeFlorida

Hello well I will be making the move to Greenville in the next 4 weeks and would like to know which auto insurance everyone is using and the pros and cons of the companies? Plus, when should a transplant get a rate quote for car insurance in SC? When I move there or should I do it now?

Also, for the new transplants to Greenville: How easy was the transition from your out of state license to a SC one? (Including the actual licenses, tags, and such). Please give me as much info as possible as I will also have to fork over my FL drivers license for a SC.

Thanks in advance!

We recently relocated from NJ. Ahead of time I found a site on the internet which allowed you to plug in info and receive free insurance quotes. I can't recall the site, but we decided on All-State. Our agent was Ashley Millard Sutter. She was very helpful as we even had our new home insurance done through them. The savings in insurance from NJ was amazing. There were many quotes that were much better than we had. Do some computer work ahead of time. Our day at the SC DMV was much easier than our previous 34 years in NJ. After you get over the shock of the "car tax" in SC it was an easy process. I do remember that you must pay your car tax at your local tax assessor's and have proof of payment before you head to the DMV or they will send you back. The people at SC DMV where we went in Pickens County,SC were very helpful. I also remember that if you are coming from another state and have a leased vehicle in order to resgister it in SC or any state for that matter you will need a special form. Check with your leasing company as they should be able to help you out as it is a common thing. The "car tax" is news to many as it was to us. Cars, boats, cycles etc are considered property and are assessed a tax which you pay once , every year. Call the local tax assor where you are moving too and if you provide the car type, model and vin # they should be able to tell you the assessment. It goes by the age, year etc of the vehicle for the most part.
Good Luck and I hope some of this was helpful!
Allentown