Residency for "Snowbirds" and driver's license/vehicle registration Collier County (The Villages: HOA, car registration)

[wjj]

Originally Posted by tmozer

I am paying Geico around $1200 a year for a 2013 Malibu and a 2015 Equinox. Both with collision. Both registered in Florida.

I am paying as much for a Mazda CX-9 in FL as I do for both a Jaguar XF and Acura MDX together in Illinois. Identical coverage on all cars. FL rates are out of sight. Double or more what they are in the Chicago suburbs. My agent in FL told me that 1 out of 4 drivers in FL are uninsured and that is why the rates are so high. I don't get it. If they can't show proof of insurance, they should not be able to renew a drivers license and should not be able to renew their plates. Why does FL go so easy on scofflaws? Other states sure do not.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by wjj

I am paying as much for a Mazda CX-9 in FL as I do for both a Jaguar XF and Acura MDX together in Illinois. Identical coverage on all cars. FL rates are out of sight. Double or more what they are in the Chicago suburbs. My agent in FL told me that 1 out of 4 drivers in FL are uninsured and that is why the rates are so high. I don't get it. If they can't show proof of insurance, they should not be able to renew a drivers license and should not be able to renew their plates. Why does FL go so easy on scofflaws? Other states sure do not.

There must be huge differences within Florida or IL must be super cheap.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by markjames68

There must be huge differences within Florida or IL must be super cheap.

No. The reason is that Illinois does not tolerate uninsured drivers. You can lose your license. You need to show insurance to renew plates every year. If you get stopped even for a warning and cannot prove insurance, you get cited. If you do not get insurance, you lose your license.

1 in 4 uninsured in FL seems incredible to me.

As for prices (and I have $500 deductibles and 250/500 liabilty in both states), I pay $780 for a Mazda CX-9 in FL for a year and $810 a year for a Jaguar XF and Acura MDX together in Illinois. All are 2008-2010 vehicles. FL auto insurance rates are crazy. No other way to put it.

[relocatingtonaples]

Originally Posted by cjhall715

Per the internet: Florida has quickly become one of the most expensive states in terms of insurance premiums...

Here's a tip for part-time "seasonal" people with two homes, one of which is in Florida:

(1) You can have a car registered in Florida with Florida plates, and still have a valid driver's license from another state. (This applies to a resident of another state, who happens to also have a second home in Florida.)

(2) You must, of course, have Florida insurance on that car in at least the required amounts - and preferably a lot more to make sure you are adequately covered.

(3) If you are strictly seasonal in Florida spending, say, 3 months in Florida and 9 months in another state, you may be able to SUSPEND (not cancel) the liability and collision portion of your auto coverage in the state where you are NOT driving for those months. In other words, you suspend the liability/collision coverage for 9 months in Florida. This reduces your premium costs pretty substantially.

(4) If you suspend that coverage, it is critical that you notify your insurance company to reinstate coverage the day before you plan to arrive back in Florida. Same goes in the other direction when you return back from Season. Don't risk being without full coverage for even a single day.

(5) This method works best for those who do not go back and forth a lot, such as for weekend visits. It could be a major pain to keep suspending and reactivating coverage. It also works best for those who are well-organized who won't forget to reinstate/suspend.

(6) Not all insurers offer this option. State Farm does. It also helps if you have a good and long standing relationship with your insurance agents (one in each state). We didn't know about this option at first. We only learned through a conversation with our agent one day at renewal time a couple of years ago. You may have to have State Farm coverage in both states to get this option - I am not sure. If this option sounds like it might work your own circumstances, be sure to ask if it's available to you.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by relocatingtonaples

(4) If you suspend that coverage, it is critical that you notify your insurance company to reinstate coverage the day before you plan to arrive back in Florida. Same goes in the other direction when you return back from Season. Don't risk being without full coverage for even a single day.

(5) This method works best for those who do not go back and forth a lot, such as for weekend visits. It could be a major pain to keep suspending and reactivating coverage. It also works best for those who are well-organized who won't forget to reinstate/suspend.

(6) Not all insurers offer this option. State Farm does. It also helps if you have a good and long standing relationship with your insurance agents (one in each state). We didn't know about this option at first. We only learned through a conversation with our agent one day at renewal time a couple of years ago. You may have to have State Farm coverage in both states to get this option - I am not sure. If this option sounds like it might work your own circumstances, be sure to ask if it's available to you.

We just found out about this a couple of weeks ago when re-shopping our homeowners and auto insurance in FL. We do go back and forth a lot, so we would need to be organized about it, but the Allstate agent told us if we are going to be gone from FL for 30 days or more, we could have our liability and collision suspended for that period. While we have been down in FL for parts of every month, sometimes it is early one month and late in the next month so we do have probably 3 and maybe 4 times every year where there is more than 30 consecutive days when we are not down there. My current company does not offer that. I have Allstate auto coverage in IL as well, but I don't think that mattered in this case.

On a similar note, I found out that different insurance companies use different criteria when imposing a surcharge for being a seasonal or part time resident. I was able to get the surcharge dropped by switching companies (same insurer, just a different company in the group) because one or both of us are in the house for part of every month (usually in week to 10 day chunks - longer in the winter) so there is never a 60 consecutive day period where the house is unoccupied.

[CubsFan20]

Originally Posted by Compression

Not certain how someone obtains "dual" residency. Many folks here, that are seasonal residents, maintain their northern driver licenses, and tags. Do you own real property here? Probably advantageous for you to declare it as your "homestead" to get a break on the taxes..

You can't have "dual residency" legally.

Legally you can only be a resident of ONE state. You cannot get homestead exemption for living here part time. And you have to have a drivers license in this state and declare it as your PRIMARY residence for legal and tax purposes. You can't have more than one PRIMARY residence.

If you try to get more than one drivers license, you are committing federal and state felonies. In fact you have to sign an affidavit when you get your drivers license stating you do not have one in another state, and if you lie, you are toast

[tmozer]

It might be illegal in Florida, but this worked for a neighbor of mine in SC: The husband retained Mass as his primary domicile residence and the wife claimed SC as her primary residence. It was a little complicated and there were a few hurdles, but it seemed to have worked for them.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by tmozer

It might be illegal in Florida, but this worked for a neighbor of mine in SC: The husband retained Mass as his primary domicile residence and the wife claimed SC as her primary residence. It was a little complicated and there were a few hurdles, but it seemed to have worked for them.

But this is different. No one individual in your example is a dual resident, which I agree is not legal in any state that I am aware of (you are either a full year resident, part year resident (e.g., in the year you move from one state to another), or a non resident). Each spouse in your example is a resident of a different state which can be tricky in operation, but can be done. This is more common with legally married but separated couples.

[tmozer]

They are not separated. But I believe the wife has the SC residence in her name and the husband the Mass residence in his name, or something like that. Too complicated to be worth considering IMHO.

[OneToGo]

Originally Posted by tmozer

They are not separated. But I believe the wife has the SC residence in her name and the husband the Mass residence in his name, or something like that. Too complicated to be worth considering IMHO.

That's way too much work. Unless.....I can have the Fla one and my wife the NY. This way I'll stay down here all year.