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Can I insure a car without registering it?
It's possible to insure a car without registering it, but it depends on the auto insurance company's underwriting guidelines and state laws.Skip to article
Written by:
Shivani Gite
Contributing Writer
Shivani Gite is a personal finance and insurance writer with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She is passionate about making insurance topics easy to understand for people and helping them make better financial decisions. When not writing, you can find her reading a book or watching anime.
Laura is an award-winning editor with experience in content and communications covering auto insurance and personal finance. She has written for several media outlets, including the USA Today Network. She most recently worked in the public sector for the Nevada Department of Transportation.
Whether you can insure a car without registering it will vary by insurance company since underwriting guidelines differ, as do state laws.
In general, insurance companies will request a current registration for three reasons.
First, it helps prove to the company that you have an “insurable interest” in a vehicle. A person has an insurable interest in something when loss or damage to it would cause that person to suffer a financial loss or certain other kinds of losses.
Second, some insurance companies require a vehicle to be in a state for a certain period (such as 10 months). Registering a car with the state’s Department of Motor Vehicle helps prove that the car is used and garaged within that state.
Third, there are usually state laws that require vehicles to be registered. There may be exceptions for project cars or cars that are being stored. Again, state laws differ regarding these situations.
If you have a car that you want to insure without registering, you can check with various insurance companies to see if their guidelines allow for coverage to be placed on the vehicle. It will depend on state law first and foremost, then the guidelines of the individual insurance company.
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— Michelle Megna contributed to this story.
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Laura Longero
Executive Editor
Laura is an award-winning editor with experience in content and communications covering auto insurance and personal finance. She has written for several media outlets, including the USA Today Network. She most recently worked in the public sector for the Nevada Department of Transportation.
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John McCormick
Editorial Director
John is the editorial director for CarInsurance.com, Insurance.com and Insure.com. Before joining QuinStreet, John was a deputy editor at The Wall Street Journal and had been an editor and reporter at a number of other media outlets where he covered insurance, personal finance, and technology.
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Leslie Kasperowicz
Managing Editor
Leslie Kasperowicz is an insurance educator and content creation professional with nearly two decades of experience first directly in the insurance industry at Farmers Insurance and then as a writer, researcher, and educator for insurance shoppers writing for sites like ExpertInsuranceReviews.com and InsuranceHotline.com and managing content, now at CarInsurance.com.
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Nupur Gambhir
Managing Editor
Nupur Gambhir is a content editor and licensed life, health, and disability insurance expert. She has extensive experience bringing brands to life and has built award-nominated campaigns for travel and tech. Her insurance expertise has been featured in Bloomberg News, Forbes Advisor, CNET, Fortune, Slate, Real Simple, Lifehacker, The Financial Gym, and the end-of-life planning service.
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Shivani Gite is a personal finance and insurance writer with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She is passionate about making insurance topics easy to understand for people and helping them make better financial decisions. When not writing, you can find her reading a book or watching anime.