Auto insurance policies can start at anytime throughout the day, some companies put it on a binder and start the actual policy date at 12:01AM the following day. It should say on your auto insurance policy at what time the policy would cancel. Typically it is at 12:01 AM local time of the state in which the policyholder lives. If for some reason it is local time for the insurance company headquarters which is out of state it should say for instance 12:01 AM Eastern, Paciific, Mountain, or Standard Time Zone, Pacific Time, etc.

When you receive your policy or a renewal notice for your car insurance it should state what time it starts and stops. In many states the renewal notice can also be considered a cancellation notice if you fail to pay within the given time period the amount required to keep your policy active. For that purpose it normally states if you do not pay than the policy will cancel at 12:01 AM and if it is not local time for you it should say Eastern Time, etc.

We have never had a claim where there is a dispute for policy time and I am sure that most state regulators would contend that the policy start and end date must be clear (designating the time zone) or be the local time zone where the policyholder lives. What must be placed on your policy and renewal or cancellation notice vary by state and then also according to the guidelines of an insurance company. So if your policy does not state which time zone you can always contact your agent and confirm it is local time. You can also contact your state's insurance regulatory body to find out what information must be placed on auto insurance policies, cancellation notices, etc.

CarInsurance.com lists EST (Eastern Standard Time) on all its policy and quote dates. That way if you get a quote in California at 11PM, it will list 2AM on the quote and/or policy date. We can designate locale time, but at this time we do not.

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