Car Insurance question, owner died.

Haven't been on here in a while, but if I remember correctly we have 1 or 2 folks on here that either do or did sell insurance products.

My question involves the car insurance currently on my recently deceased uncles car.
He passed away at 93 & the 2014 Nisson that's sitting in the garage for a yr+, will be staying there until we find time to sell it.

He was paying a hell of a lot for insurance... more than I do for 4 cars, a camper & a house
Hence, while we were planning to let the policy in place until the estate is settled, can I as a POA/Executor call them up and drop the coverage's down to the State minimum liability... and drop collision altogether? I want some insurance on the car to keep the plate legal long enough to get it State Inspected b4 it runs out in April, and keep the Comprehensive in place just in case something in the garage falls on it. But definitely want to drop the collision where they are charging $700/yr just for the collision on a $10k(maybe) car. It's not going to be driven anywhere other than maybe once to the service station down the street prior to sale.

I just don't want to call them to make a change, & then have them cancel the policy on the spot... especially since the house is on the same policy. It will be a while until the house is sold... or the estate is even settled for that matter. The Lawyer says everything is taking forever due to Covid... limited trips to court house, no one answers phones pretty much anywhere, etc...

Any thoughts from an agents point of view.
As POA/Executor, can I make a coverage change to the policy of the deceased while the estate is being settled, or should we just let this sleeping dog lie. It's paid up until May. I didn't ask the lawyer about it... figured they were busy notifying the various financial companies & clawing money back from the old folks home.

Thanks

As POA/Executor, you should be able to make any changes that you want

You might have to show them the paperwork to prove that you are the POA/ Executor of the estate

Also changing the driver of the car to a younger person will loose the old age surcharge

If there is nothing owed on the car then you can do as you please as stated above as long as you show the proper paperwork, just did that with my dad's estate. If it is payed up until May then let it ride until then...

Some insurance carriers in this state charge a surcharge when a house becomes vacant and then after a specified time will no longer insure it unless it is occupied.

Maybe when they find out he passed away, they will cancel the policy. Then what would you do? I would just leave it alone until the estate is settled and the car sold. Making waves to save a little $ is not worth risking the hassle of trying to find new coverage on a deceased persons car.

The 1st thing I though of was "Are you sure there is even coverage on it now?" If the agent knew the deceased, he may have already canceled the insurance, or the length of the term could have expired and without a renewal, it may have just dropped. It could have also auto renewed and the current policy will be in effect until the end of this term, which means it probably has already been paid for.

I suspect every insurance company has its own process and its own policy regarding the death of the owner, the best info you will get is to get it from the insurance company. If you have the policy, it might actually tell you inside of it what happens and what the policy is. Making assumptions about an insurance company policies and procedures is not a good idea.

When my mother died, in 2013, she owned two cars. The insurance company told me that the policy would continue, but that only I, the personal representative of the estate, was allowed to drive them.

The homeowner's policy could have gone very, very badly if not for the company really doing us a solid. Mom had transferred the house to her trust, but hadn't changed the insurance. Two years after she died, there was a plumbing disaster that wound up costing over $90k to fix, and the insurance company could have told us to pound sand because the policyholder was deceased. But I'd been paying the premiums, so they agreed to cover the claim and keep the policy alive through the end of the next year, which was long enough to get the repairs done. My sister owns the house now.

He outlived all his Insurance & local finance guys... So I doubt they know since he's in the "Big pot" now.... Call the "800" deal. Just like I was after my Nationwide agent retired. (When that happened I called & asked for a local agent & nationwide told me to go find one myself... so I did... with another company.) He always paid his big bills all in one shot for the entire year when they came in... Car, House, Life, Long Term Care, Annuities, etc... Only things he paid monthly were utilities & his medicare advantage plan.

There must be a hell of an insurance bump when you hit your 90's... because nowhere on his statements does it show anything but so called qualifying "discounts"... I was trying to find a penalty or multipliers, but didn't see any. I'll probably just let it roll... I was just kind of in shock when I found the last billing statement and instantly jumped into F this mode.

Maybe someone in extended family may want it at some point, but so far no one close does as everyone already has decent cars to drive.
My Uncle kept trying to give it to me during the last year, & I kept saying "What am I going to do with it, I already have 8 laying around".

Where the heck is not-a-charger when you need him. And can you just have them insure it for storage at this point. If it's not being used (driven) then get it insured for that or "storage". If the state registration is not current or has expired then no insurance is necessary (at least in Ohio) as they only do "proof of insurance" per the current registration on file. See if the insurance that is on that has a non-use storage clause, it's usually very small monthly premium.

If you're the executor and have POA and can prove it the insurance company will do whatever you want - regardless of whether the man is dead or not because you have POA !!! Personally on a $10k car, I'd drop all insurance unless it looks like the roof IS ready to cave in. Dispose of the car a.s.a.p.. - there is no reason to keep it sitting around. When it comes to estates you want to cancel any utilities, etc. that are non-essential and liquidate assets as quickly as possible. Its a lot easier to divvy up the estate when everything is cash - trying to divvy up assets only results in arguments.

When my uncle died we had his car sold within a week - my aunt doesn't drive.
When my dad died there was more money owing on the car than the car was worth due to a lousy trade-in deal they had pulled on him. The car was the only thing in his "estate", everything else was already in my mother's name, we walked into the Ford dealership and tossed them the keys and ownership (the loan was with Ford Motor Credit).

Keep in mind; power of attorney ceases when the person passes away. If you are named as executor on will you would still be able to over see the estate and whatever is within it, ie; cars etc.
But, take a look at the will to see if your named. I would do that first before anything else.

Remember guys, insurance laws vary state-by-state, and so do probate rules. I know in Michigan Power of Attorney is for a living person. I had to get Personal Representative paperwork from the Probate Court to deal with my dad's stuff, but my mom (they were long divorced) had everything in a trust, and I'm the trustee. Get advice for your state.

My advice is to contact an independent broker in your town. A good one will know all of the inns and outs. There is coverage for storage and test driving the car at point-of-sale. Storage covers cars that are parked in a garage or a driveway or whatever, as long as it is on a designated piece of property agreed to by the insurer and the insured. I have done this with State Farm, Geico, and progressive insurance.