According to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), motor vehicles registered in New York State must have liability insurance. Unless your registered vehicle is a motorcycle, it has to be insured even when it is in storage or not being driven. If you have a motorcycle, its insurance coverage must be in effect whenever the vehicle is operated on a public road or highway.

Both the NY DMV and NY Insurance Department note that NY insurance coverage must be a minimum of Bodily Injury of $25,000/50,000 for injury, $50,000/100,000 for death, and $10,000 for property damage caused by any one accident. These minimum Liability limits in New York are sometimes together referred to as $25,000/$50,000/$10,000 or 25/50/10.

New York State is a no-fault state so Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage is also required as is Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage. The limits for UM coverage cannot exceed the limits you select for your Bodily Injury coverage

So Liability coverage must be on your vehicle even if it is in storage or a long term parking lot for 6 months while you are out of the country. However to cover your car if it was stolen you would also need to have Comprehensive coverage on it. This coverage would cover your vehicle if it was stolen from the long term lot.

As for damages that a thief may cause others if they steal the car, if your car insurance provider found you liable then your Liability coverages would cover this. However typically since you did not give the thief permission to operate the car (obvious you would not since they are stealing your car) your insurance company would be able to deny liability on your part and not have to pay out if your vehicle damages others. The person that stole your car, if caught, is the one that normally would be held responsible the damages sustained by others in your car that they stole.

If you want coverage for your vehicle, so that it would be repaired or you would be paid out actual cash value (ACV) for it if it is stolen and not recovered or recovered but found to be a total loss than you would need to add Comprehensive coverage to the mandatory Liability, PIP and UM coverages.

Basically, you would need the same coverage on the vehicle as the coverage you would expect to have when driving the vehicle...

To get quotes for the minimal amount of insurance you want to keep on your car that will be parked while you travel out of the country, click here for instant car insurance quotes for NYS.