Car insurance (loan, attorney, to buy)

[Cat_ny]

Ok, so here's my dilemma. My car has a loan on it, is registered in NYS, and the insurance is all under my dad's name. The insurance is about to run out and he wants me to get my own. He gave me a notarized letter giving me power of attorney to register the car here in Tennessee. My question is, if nothing is under my name, can I get insurance in my name? Or would my name need to be on the registration? Help please!

[CountryGirl2b=]

I THINK car insurance is attached to the CAR and not the person but I could be wrong. Just call an insurance agent and ask or maybe even AAA as that might be less intimidating. Insurance agents give quotes all the time. It's what they do. You aren't obligated to buy it from them. The car is in your Dad's name?

[md21722]

Do you live in Tennessee?

I am guessing if you have a NY state registration and suddenly change your insurance to TN then you will have problems with NY suspending your registration or license or both.

If both you and the car are located in TN, now is probably a good time to go to the County Clerks office and get the title and registration switched over to your name. In NY the owner keeps the title if their is a lein on it. So either you or your Dad wil have the title.

[GWoodle]

You may also find it is time to change your plate & DL over to TN. It is an easy process.

For the DL you go to the TN Department of Safety. Their website will show you where to go. With a clean driving record, you may not have to pass any driver test. You will need a birth certificate & your current TN address.

For the plate, first you will have to get a smog test. Those locations are also easy to find. The test unit on Antioch near Harding is open Saturdays. From there you go back to the county clerk to get plates & 2 stickers.

Welcome to TN! At this point you may also register to vote here!

[Rids78]

If you're going to switch over your license make sure you have several items that state your TN address and they won't accept photocopies. Otherwise that 90 minutes you waited in line will be for nothing!

[septimus]

you will save soooo much money by registering your car in TN and getting TN car insurance. We pay 1/2 as much as we did back east and we raised our coverage amounts and now have 2 cars instead of 1.

[Cat_ny]

But am I going to have a problem with the insurance since the car & registration are not in my name?

[md21722]

We already answered your question. You have to check with NY and find out what actions they may take against you for not having NY insurance on your NY registered car. Among other things, they may suspend your license, your father's license, and/or the vehicle's registration.

TN does not require any proof of insurance when you register the vehicle and will not suspend your license or registration for not having insurance. Other states have DMV computer systems that automatically suspend license and registration when they detect improper or no insurance.

[md21722]

I was curious, so I looked at what NYS requires. NYS requires NYS INSURANCE IN THE NAME OF THE PERSON WHO REGISTERED THE CAR. If that is not the case, they will suspend BOTH the license of the registrant AND the registration of the vehicle. This means your DAD's driver's license WILL BE suspended if he does not maintain insurance on the car in his name.

If he does not want to maintain insurance, you must title & register the vehicle in TN. Its also worth noting that you MUST have the TITLE to the vehicle. The power of attorney, affidavit of title, or anything else will NOT work in TN. Your Dad has the title. He needs to send it to you. When you take it to the County Clerk's office, they will record the lein that's on the NYS state and send it to the lien holder. Once the lien is paid off, the lien holder will send you the title. Its also worth noting that if you do not already have a TN license, now is the time to get one. Do it before you try to title & tag the vehicle in TN. TN doesn't like it when someone uses a different address for license & registration. They won't say anything until you get stopped for a traffic violation or pass through a roadblock, and then you'll probably be ticketed.

Some states will let you put their license plates on a vehicle even if its titled in another state. TN does NOT work this way. They will NOT issue tags without a TN title for the vehicle.

The only other possibility is if TN will allow you to title the vehicle in your father's name. I have never tried to title a vehicle in someone else's name. With a power of attorney that might be possible. But the POA must be for the title as well as the registration. You will probably need to list your father's address as your TN address and say he lives with you.