As we near the end of “snowbird” season, our team has been having important conversations with clients who split time between Michigan and warmer states like Florida.
Recently, we had a client who returned home to Michigan for the summer but decided to leave their Michigan-registered vehicle in Florida. Because the client maintains residency in both states, they believed that as long as the vehicle was registered and insured in Michigan, it didn’t matter where it was kept.
Unfortunately, that’s not how auto insurance works.
Insurance companies rate your vehicle based largely on where it is principally garaged — meaning where it is kept most of the time.
Why does this matter?
Because location impacts risk. Weather patterns, accident frequency, theft rates, traffic density, and legal environments all vary significantly from state to state. Insurance carriers calculate premiums based on these localized risk factors.
If your vehicle is registered in Michigan, insured on a Michigan auto policy, but physically kept in Florida for most of the year, then the principal garaging location has changed — and your Michigan insurance company is no longer rating the vehicle correctly for its actual exposure.
Here’s how this typically plays out.
If you own homes in both Michigan and Florida and drive your vehicle back and forth seasonally, you can generally maintain Michigan registration and insurance. The vehicle’s garaging location changes temporarily, but its principal residence remains Michigan.
However, if you decide to leave one of your vehicles in Florida permanently (or for the majority of the year) to avoid transporting it back and forth, the principal garaging location has now changed to Florida.
In that case, the vehicle must be registered appropriately and insured in Florida. A Michigan carrier cannot accurately calculate rates for a vehicle that is no longer primarily located in Michigan.
When garaging information is inaccurate, coverage issues can arise at claim time. And unfortunately, that’s when clients discover the problem — when it’s too late.
If you split time between states, ask yourself: Where is each vehicle physically kept most of the year? Has that changed recently? Have you notified your insurance advisor?
Even if you maintain dual residency, insurance follows the vehicle’s principal location — not just your driver’s license or mailing address.
At Rathbun Insurance, we’d much rather have a proactive conversation now than a reactive one after a loss.
If you spend part of the year in another state, own homes in multiple states, or leave vehicles in different locations seasonally, let’s review your setup together to ensure everything is properly registered, rated, and protected.
Because at Rathbun Insurance, Being There Matters Most — especially when life takes you across state lines.