Buying a car as a gift and keeping it a secret is challenging enough – but what about properly insuring it? While gifting someone a car is one of the grandest and most thoughtful gestures you could make, it won’t do the receiver much good without the proper insurance to go with it! To help you out, our experts are here to share some of our smartest tips for buying a car as a gift this season!
Buying a Car as a Gift? Start with the Basics
1. Clear Financing Hurdles First
In an effort to keep this gift under wraps, you should make sure you clear as many financing hurdles with the dealership as possible. That being said, it’s recommended that the reciever of this gift be on the title – so how to proceed? Luckily, most dealerships have a finance and insurance manager “F&I guy” on hand to help you sort through these details without spoiling the surprise! If you’re able to get your special someone’s name on the title without spilling the beans, the toughest hurdle is behind you!
2. Talk to Your Insurance Agent
With that tricky financing hurdle in the rearview, you can now focus on putting together an insurance policy game plan. If you’re already on a policy together, this should be as simple as calling your insurance agent, making them swear an oath of secrecy, and adding the new car to the existing policy. However, this step may be more challenging if you’re not already on a policy with the person you’re surprising. In this case, you have more complex options, all of which you should explore with a trusted insurance specialist.
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3. Explore Options in Your Current Policy
If you are facing the task of securing insurance without sharing a policy with the person you’re surprising, you have a couple options to consider. On one hand, you could go the pricy route and pay for temporary insurance, but the bill might be more shocking than the gift reveal! Your second option is to examine your current policy with a trusted insurance expert to see if there are any automatic coverage clauses you could utilize.
4. Bind Now, Issue Later
Another option to consider is binding the policy with your insurer and delaying the process of issuing the coverage until after the new car has been bestowed upon its new owner. Essentially, this course of action would make sure that coverage is in place, but the issuing of the policy will be delayed until the owner of the new car signs the paperwork. While most agents can bind a policy on the company’s behalf, you should check with an insurance specialist first!
Buying a New Car as a Gift: Pro Tip
Depending on your state, titling the car may require precise timing. That’s why it’s wise to check your state requirements before you get too carried away with your surprise gifting plans!
5. Sign It Over After the 25th
All of this may sound a bit too complicated. If you would rather avoid the headache without ruining the surprise, you could always title and insure the car under your name, and sign it over to the recipient of this extravagant gift after the 25th. Although you should still check, most states do allow the transfer of a car title as a gift and at a nominal fee. However, untangling the insurance part of this plan will require the help of a trusted specialist.
6. Get Your Timing Right
Regardless of how you choose to go about purchasing, titling, and insuring this new car, getting the timing right is imperative. If you buy the car and leave with the dealership-provided plates too far off from Christmas, you may be getting a surprise-spoiling letter of registration confirmation from the state before the 25th! Simply put, buy the car as close to Christmas as possible, if you’re living with the person you intend to surprise.
Buying a Car As a Gift? Lifetime Can Help.
Your best bet for buying a car as a gift and keeping the surprise under wraps? Insuring it with the help of a Lifetime insurance expert! At Lifetime Insurance Services, we go above and beyond your standard agency. We focus our time and attention on serving our clients as individuals, and we take pride in being an integral part of your important milestones. If you’re planning a grand surprise for one of your loved ones this season, we would love to help! Give us a call at (972) 771-2622 or visit our website.
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Keep the surprises limited to gifts – let the pros at Lifetime build you the right insurance plan today!