The Importance Of An Accurate “Garaging Location” For Auto Insurance

There’s a hidden issue with auto insurance policies that many people don’t think about until it’s too late – You need to accurately tell your insurance company where your vehicle will usually be parked when you’re at home and not using it. That’s called the “garaging location” or something similar.   

Insurance companies price auto insurance policies based on where the vehicle is typically parked overnight. That’s often referred to as the “garaging address” or “garaging location.” That’s where your car is parked most of the time when you’re at home. Your vehicle’s garaging location is commonly your home address, especially if you live in a house with a garage or other private, exclusive parking area like a carport or driveway. But, depending upon your living situation, your vehicle’s garaging location could also be a public or private parking lot or garage or a public street.

Your vehicle’s garaging location has a major role in determining your auto insurance premiums. Insurers consider factors connected to the location, such as traffic levels, population levels, and crime rates. Such things impact your premiums because they’re used to gauge the likelihood that you’ll need to file a property insurance claim involving your vehicle.

You usually must update your insurer on your vehicle’s garaging location when its primary location changes. That’s true even if the move may not be permanent. Neglecting to update your vehicle’s garaging location, which may increase the amount that your insurer wants to charge you for coverage, could be considered a violation of your auto policy’s terms and conditions. Then, if you need to make a claim under your auto policy, that could result in a lower payment on your claim, a denied claim, cancellation of your policy, and even a legal claim from your insurer asserting that you committed fraud or misrepresentation concerning the vehicle’s primary location.

To give an example of what could happen, let’s say that for school or a temporary job assignment you take up temporary residence in a very different location than the vehicle’s current garaging address. The vehicle goes from a house with a garage in a low-crime suburban area to public parking on a city street outside your temporary apartment in a high-crime area. You fail to notify your insurer that the vehicle’s primary location’s changed. Then your vehicle’s stolen off the street one night and never recovered. You make a claim under your auto policy so that you can buy a replacement vehicle. But, because you didn’t notify your auto insurer that your vehicle’s primary location had changed to street parking in a high crime area, your insurer completely denies your claim, leaving you to fully pay out-of-pocket for a replacement vehicle. That’s a real potential consequence of failing to notify your auto insurer of your vehicle’s new garaging location.

To avoid that costly situation, make sure that you confirm where your vehicle’s primary location is for most of the year and that your insurer has that information. If that vehicle’s primary location will change at some point that year, your insurer should be notified of that too. When you notify your insurer of any changes to the vehicle’s garaging location, make sure that you do it precisely in the manner that your insurer requires. That’s not the time to just make up your own method of providing notice or to assume that your insurer “already knows” the vehicle’s garaging location because of this reason or that reason. Auto insurers have millions upon millions of policyholders. That’s why they have precise systems and methods for important information like a vehicle’s garaging location. Insurers are unable to, and don’t have to, rely on ad-hoc information about a particular vehicle that hasn’t been presented through their required methods and processes.