Do You Need The Actual Insurance Pink Slips Before You Can Drive Your Car?

Here’s the situation…

You buy a car. You’re going to the dealership to pick it up tomorrow. You call a broker for an insurance quote. You get a good quote. The broker sets up a new policy. You’re insured effective tomorrow.

Everything’s good… Except that you don’t have your actual liability card (Commonly referred to as the pink slip).

But don’t you need that to drive the car, in case the police stop you?

Yes, of course you do.

But here’s the thing – Your broker is normally allowed to give you a temporary liability card when he sets up a new policy. The temporary card is usually good for 30 days, which should allow the insurance company enough time to mail the original to you. If you can’t physically go to the broker’s office to get it, you can ask them to fax or email it to you. Then you just print it out and keep it with you until you get your permanent card in the mail.

Postscript: Canadian Underwriter recently reported that fraudulent pink slips are on the rise. There are a lot of fraudsters out there. Be sure you don’t get caught up with fraudsters selling bogus pink slips.

Protect yourself by searching for the brokerage or the broker’s name on the RIBO website here:

www.ribo.com