You need to let them know where you are driving your car. They will likely keep your policy the same but change your garaging address. If you don't tell them about it, they could deny a claim.
Yes. You must have an insurance policy that has your actual garaging address. Failing to do so is a material misrepresentation to the insurance company and you risk all sorts of consequences.
Even people who serve in the military, who are legally able to maintain home state residences, have to have insurance for the location of their vehicle.
I’m not sure a travel nurse can set up a “home” for state tax purposes on your actual income. There are certain stipends that remain tax-free for less than 12 months, but a bunch of states that would still require you to pay actual state income taxes on your earned income for a period of 11 months. You should be following up with an actual CPA in the state you’re working in.
I have consulted and received advice on tax purposes and I’m not concerned about that. My taxable income is being taxed in both states but I do receive stipends.
The issue is I need my car insurance to match my license, registration, and everything else that says my permanent address is my home state, because it is. If I change my car insurance to this state, it will cause issues with my residence being established in my home state. I have no intention of moving to the state I’m in now for work.
Everyone else who has asked this question on travel therapy threads says they don’t tell their insurance and haven’t had issues because it’s not a permanent move, it’s the same as traveling for work.
I looked on my policy and don’t even see anywhere for a separate garaging address, only my mailing address.
Your insurance doesn’t care about your driver license or registration
The state you’re in or from probably do. And most do have requirements on residency being established in as little as 30 days. Some states allow temporary registrations. Some states allow a differentiation between domicile and temporary employment.
You haven’t provided either involved states.
But I can tell you - if you do not notify your car insurance company of the actual address that you are garaging your vehicle you risk: policy rescinded, claim denied, underwriting review and cancellation, non-renewal. And if the new location is more expensive for premiums? That’s considered a type of insurance fraud called premium skipping.
ETA
What randos say online means nothing.
I have a travel trailer. If you go into RV groups - they all claim you can make a home residence elsewhere for cheap insurance. Then they freak when they have a claim and they’re fucked.
You asked experts. You’re getting actual professionals weighing in. Do what you want with that information.
The insurance isn’t the one caring about the drivers license or registration, I’m saying all of my documents need to be in home state in order for me to qualify for stipends. That’s how it works. I know for a fact I don’t need to register my car in this state as I am traveling for work. That would be an absolute disaster / impossible for the travel therapy field if that was a requirement. Most people are moving states every 13 weeks.
The insurance being upset about it is what I’m concerned about it because yes, the state I’m in now is more expensive. I’m really not even concerned about cost, more so that it seems impossible to rewrite an entire policy every time I move states for work. Even though this one is a longer contract, others after this will be much shorter. I will likely only be in one place for 13 weeks
But since you’re refusing to provide information like the states involved and just looking for confirmation bias, I’ve got nothing for you.
You’ve been warned. Most personal auto policies run 6 months. You’re talking about knowingly renewing at least once with false garaging information. Insurance case law on this topic is not consumer friendly for intentional factual misrepresentation, especially for garaging. Zip codes are a massive factor in risk and rate. This is the wrong call.
But hey, roll the dice. I can speed every day on my drive to work. I can even pass a cop who ignores me. But the day they pull me over and I’m doing 90 mph in a 65 - the other 100 times I did it without consequences mean nothing more than luck.
I didn’t intend to leave out the states just missed that portion of your message: KS going to CA. I do not intend to try to commit fraud and am happy to let the insurance company know if that’s what I should do. It’s just difficult to navigate all of these laws
I lived in California for many years. They are NOT one of the states you can have a Kansas registered vehicle while living there for 11 months. Oddly, you could argue for keeping the Kansas driver license, but the vehicle code for registrations is a hard no.
California Vehicle Code §6700 - only allows you to have an out of state registration until you establishes California residency OR accept gainful employment in California, whichever occurs first.
I am glad you know you owe CA income taxes because the FTB there doesn’t fuck around.
But as it pertains to insurance: you have to call your carrier and explain that you’re temporarily working in California and need to update your garaging address. Depending on the carrier and their underwriting requirements, this should be doable. But you need to speak with them to find out - I’d definitely hammer down that it’s “temporary” and your policy address isn’t changing but the garaging location is. Either they can or can’t but that’s the phrasing you’ll need to use to get the answer you’re specifically looking for.
My biggest concern: Is there a way to document I informed them of this if they say no big deal?
I once had an insurance agent from Progressive (my carrier) tell me when I was deciding either to exclude or include my partner who lived with me that his insurance would cover him if he got into a wreck in my car. I quickly found out that was inaccurate information and I would’ve been screwed if I followed her advice, so I want to make sure I cover my bases
If they say that - I’d ask for it in writing. If it’s something they are putting forth as the truth, they shouldn’t have an issue writing it down in an email.
Like you’re thinking, for something this big that has huge future implications, you don’t want to take anyone’s word on it.
But I doubt they’ll say that.
This is from KS auto policy written by Progressive. See #2 - they make it your legal obligation under the contract to notify them. If they say it doesn’t matter under the circumstances, definitely say “well I’m doing my duty under the policy, can you please send me an email confirming this conversation - I’m new to this stuff and just want to cover all my bases”
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u/QuriousCoyote 7h ago
You need to let them know where you are driving your car. They will likely keep your policy the same but change your garaging address. If you don't tell them about it, they could deny a claim.