Travel tips for car insurance while on a road trip

What is one recurring holiday that elicits excitement from people, young and old alike? It’s the weekend! 60+ glorious hours are granted to everyone from students to professionals, and the weekend can be a key to restoring the peace that may have been lost during your busy week. So what do you do with all of this time? We kindly suggest every once in a while you take a vacation!  Here are a few travel tips as it relates to your car insurance policy and your travels.

Local or “Staycation”

Its Friday evening and you’re taking it vantage style by going to a new restaurant and then seeing a friend about 2 hours away towards the center of the state. This vacation is simple from the prospective of your insurance provider and your policy continues operating as normal.

Interstate Travel

Lets say you’ve planned a camping trip in your neighboring state. Good luck weekend warrior and remember to keep the food wrapped so the bears don’t get a whiff of your homemade chili.

From an auto insurance perspective, did you know your provider will automatically ‘scale up’ your policy to meet each state’s minimum insurance requirements?

For example, California state law requires all drivers to carry liability coverage of $15k bodily injury (per person) + $30k max bodily injury per accident + $5k property damage, aka “15/30/5.” If you were to drive through Oregon, for example, the minimum insurance requirements become 25/50/20. Your coverage is adjusted by your carrier without you needing to lift a finger.

Scroll down to the bottom of the article to see each state’s minimum auto insurance requirements and be sure to check out our in-depth article on interstate insurance for more info about traveling out-of-state.

Out of the country – quando a Roma/When in Rome…

If you’re headed outside of the country (hey, why not!) here are 3 things you should keep tabs on:

• Most policies will cover you with full liability up to 25 miles into Mexico from the U.S. border
• You are covered in Canada, just as you are in the U.S.
• If you are overseas, you may want to purchase the local auto insurance as recommended by the car rental agency

Before you depart on your epic weekend adventure, take a quick glance at our “10 Ways that Drivers Get Distracted” travel tips infographic to make sure you don’t fall prey to one of these in-cabin diversions.

Minimum Auto Insurance Requirements for all 50 states:

(Bodily injury per person/Max bodily injury per accident/Property damage)

• Alaska 50/100/25
• Alabama 25/50/25
• Arkansas 25/50/25
• Arizona 15/30/10
• California 15/30/5
• Colorado 25/50/15
• Connecticut 20/40/10
• Delaware 15/30/10
• Florida 10/20/10
• Georgia 25/50/25
• Hawaii 20/40/10
• Idaho 20/50/15
• Illinois 20/40/15
• Indiana 25/50/10
• Iowa 20/40/15
• Kansas 25/50/10
• Kentucky 25/50/10
• Louisiana 15/30/25
• Maine 50/100/25
• Maryland 30/60/15
• Massachusetts 20/40/5
• Michigan 20/40/10
• Minnesota 30/60/10
• Mississippi 25/50/25
• Missouri 25/50/10
• Montana 25/50/10
• Nebraska 25/50/25
• New Hampshire 25/50/25
• New Jersey 15/30/5
• New Mexico 25/50/10
• Nevada 15/30/10
• New York 25/50/10
• North Carolina 30/60/25
• North Dakota 25/50/25
• Ohio 12.5/25/7.5
• Oklahoma 25/50/25
• Oregon 25/50/20
• Pennsylvania 15/30/5
• Rhode Island 25/50/25
• South Carolina 25/50/25
• South Dakota 25/50/25
• Tennessee 25/50/15
• Texas 30/60/25
• Utah 25/65/15
• Virginia 25/50/20
• Vermont 25/50/10
• Washington 25/50/10
• Wisconsin 50/100/55
• West Virginia 20/40/10
• Wyoming 25/100/15

Safe travels!