When you own a car in North Carolina, you are required, by law, to maintain liability insurance coverage, at a bare minimum. This coverage is associated with your vehicle registration and is expected to maintain proper vehicle registration. This type of coverage is also referred to as North Carolina Tag Insurance. When you purchase a new vehicle and transfer the tags to the new vehicle, this insurance coverage is transferred as well. Therefore, there is a proper way to transfer this tag insurance without losing coverage for any period of time, keeping the new vehicle legal to drive immediately.

 

What Is Tag Insurance?

 

North Carolina tag insurance is liability insurance that is required by law. It is associated with your vehicle. As a driver in the state of North Carolina, your vehicle must have these levels of coverage

 

• $30,000 of bodily injury coverage for one person.
• $60,000 of bodily injury coverage for two or more involved people
• $25,000 of coverage for property damage
• $30,000/$60,000 of Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage

 

Tag insurance follows the tags of the vehicle it is registered to as opposed to the driver of the vehicle. You may not register your vehicle in North Carolina without evidence of North Carolina tag insurance.

 

Continuous Coverage

 

Transferring North Carolina tag insurance is not a difficult task. However, it does include regulations that must be followed. The most important regulation is that there cannot be a lapse in coverage at any point. This may seem like a difficult regulation to follow. However, a North Carolina insurance provider can help you follow this regulation easily.

 

In order to transfer tag insurance from one vehicle to another, the original vehicle must maintain insurance coverage up until the moment the tags are registered to the new vehicle. At that moment, the insurance can be lifted from the original vehicle and transferred to the new one.

 

However, unless you are an insurance provider or broker, you are not capable of accomplishing this task. This means that you must contact your insurance provider in order to complete your vehicle purchase. Your provider will transfer the tags and the insurance for you upon the purchase of a new vehicle.

 

Know that based on the information changes regarding your new automobile, your rates may increase. However, they could just as easily decrease. Either way, the transfer can be conducted and take effect immediately with no lapse in coverage. The cost to transfer tags, and therefore tag insurance is $20.

 

If for any reason, you have a lapse in coverage, you are subject to fines under the law in North Carolina. The first offense of a lapse in coverage is $50. The second offense is $100, and every subsequent lapse is $150.

 

Additional Coverage for your Vehicle

 

North Carolina tag insurance is the minimum insurance required by law to be legally allowed to be on the road. However, vehicles may have additional coverages that go above the coverages the law requires.

 

If you finance or lease a vehicle, you may be required by the loan or leaseholder to maintain additional insurance coverages, such as OTC (other-than-collision) coverage. OTC (other-than-collision) insurance will provide coverage for your vehicle in the event of an accident. Also, this coverage will often cover repairs from other damaging acts, such as a tree falling on the vehicle. In addition, coverage above the state-mandated minimum for liability can be purchased based on the needs of the driver.

 

Any added insurance can also be transferred when the tags are transferred. Your insurance provider will need additional information regarding the vehicle to which you are transferring coverage. However, all coverages can transfer with the tags from one vehicle to another.

 

Of course, there are some tags and tag insurances that cannot be transferred from one vehicle to another. These types of tags include those of a person who has passed away and certain specialty license plates. These tags must be returned to the DMV in the event of death or the purchase of a new vehicle and assignment of new tags. In these instances, new coverage must be purchased at the time of the purchase of a new vehicle.

 

To learn more about transferring North Carolina tag insurance, contact our team at ProtectiveAgency.com  or call (877) 739-9367. Our licensed insurance agents will be happy to answer any questions you have.