According to the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR) you need obtain your pre-insurance photo inspection immediately however an insurer may defer an inspection for ten days.

This is 10 calendar days (not including legal holidays and Sundays) following the effective date of coverage or the date on which the insurer or the producer of record mailed the Notice of Mandatory Pre-Insurance Inspection Requirement (Form B) whichever is later on new business and on additional or replacement vehicles to an existing policy, if an inspection at the time of the request for coverage would create a serious inconvenience for the applicant.

211 CMR 94.00 is titled Mandatory Pre-Insurance Inspection of Private Passenger Motor Vehicles and discusses in details the requirements of the insurance applicant and insurer regarding this inspection process for physical damage coverage.

Section 94.04 gives specific information on the MA mandatory inspection requirements. Here it states that no motor vehicle liability policy or endorsement insuring a private passenger motor vehicle for physical damage coverage, shall be issued or renewed in the Commonwealth unless the insurer has inspected the motor vehicle.

Subsection (2) of this part of the CMR states that physical damage coverage shall not be effective on an additional or replacement motor vehicle under an existing policy, unless otherwise exempted, until the insurer has inspected the motor vehicle.

Section 94.05 tells about the exemptions to inspection requirement and 94.06 gives the circumstances in which an insurer may waive an inspection in case you think your car may be exempt or can be waived from the pre-insurance photo inspection.

CMR 211 94.09 notes the standards for suspension of physical damage coverages if you do not get the mandatory inspections. If the inspection is not conducted prior to the expiration of the ten calendar days deferral period, motor vehicle physical damage coverage on the motor vehicle shall be suspended at 12:01 a.m. of the day following the tenth calendar day, and such suspension shall continue until the inspection is effected. The insurer must inspect the motor vehicle and reinstate physical damage coverage (effective at the time of the inspection) if the applicant thereafter requests an inspection.

For more information on the Massachusetts pre-insurance photo inspection laws and what you must do when transferring over the physical damage coverage from one car to another you can read through the state regulations and speak with your insurance agent. You can also get more consumer advice from the Massachusetts Division of Insurance.