Can you buy auto insurance on the weekend?

If you’re looking to buy a new or used car and have a busy schedule, you may only be able to do this on the weekend or outside of traditional office hours. The dealership may extend longer hours to give people in your situation more flexibility, but you may be worried about insurance.

How will you take care of this important coverage if you’re ready to pick up your car out of hours? Can you get weekend car insurance? Can you call insurance on weekends? This can be a challenge for people in your situation, and you need answers before proceeding. We explain your options here.

If you need to buy car insurance on a Saturday or Sunday, enter your ZIP code to compare weekend car insurance quotes from multiple companies to find cheap auto insurance.

Buying a Car on a Weekend and Insurance

The good news is that there are car insurance companies open on Saturday, so you should be able to confirm coverage outside of the traditional 9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday office schedule. Most insurance companies have a customer service phone line, and many have walk-in offices that are open on Saturdays. In some cases, you may not even need to worry about talking to an agent if your current policy has a specific clause. In this case, you get automatic insurance for a new car for a given amount of time.

Most companies will also let you purchase a policy online or via a mobile app. This is especially easy if you already have a policy with that company, but brand-new policies can be bought this way as well.

Direct Writers

Many national insurance companies operate a “direct writer” policy. This means that they do not necessarily use independent sales agents and deal directly with the public. Those organizations will typically have a 24-hour phone line, where you can call a number (often toll-free) to get quotes, make payments, bind coverage, or file claims.

They also tend to use a lot of online services, and most have mobile apps that allow you to handle most needs.

Adding a Car to Insurance on the Weekend With Independent Agencies

Some independent insurance agencies may be open on Saturdays or offer an appointment-only service. National companies will typically offer more flexibility and allow you to buy last-minute insurance on any day and at any time during the week.

If you are adamant that you want to work with an agent, and they’re not typically open during weekend hours, you need to prepare in advance. Discuss what you plan to do and get a quote for the vehicle you have in mind. You need to see whether they can answer your call out of hours to bind the coverage if you agree on terms with the dealer or seller.

Insurance When Buying a Car From a Dealer

You must have at least the minimum amount of auto insurance before driving away from a dealer’s lot. Each state’s DMV requires the dealer to file paperwork, so they’ll confirm that you have coverage before you get the keys. 

As soon as the seller approves the purchase, you become the car’s legal owner, and you must comply with relevant auto insurance laws in your state. Also, when you are looking for full coverage insurance to lease a car, this company will typically demand that you have both comprehensive and collision coverage to protect the vehicle and their interest in it. The same applies to financed cars.

You can compare available numbers, but insurance rates are always unique to the individual. For example, below is a chart of average auto insurance rates in each state:

Average Auto Insurance Rates by State

Getting an Automatic Extension

You cannot simply wait until the weekend is over and offices open on Monday. You must have insurance in place from the moment you purchase the vehicle. However, check if you have a newly acquired provision written into your existing insurance policy to find out how many days you have to get car insurance. 

If so, your current insurance company may automatically extend the type of coverage you have now to protect a newly acquired vehicle. Still, this coverage will only remain in place for a certain amount of time, so you will need to contact the insurance company as soon as possible so that they can issue a policy for the new vehicle.

Getting Car Insurance on a Weekend

While some people worry about how to insure a new car on the weekend, others want to know if insuring a car for a weekend is even possible. Well, it’s possible to get car insurance for the weekend. Temporary insurance policies can offer coverage from as little as one hour and can certainly include a weekend. Thus, if you want to borrow a vehicle to move house, look for insurance companies that offer temporary protection.

Here are some of the largest insurance companies open on Saturdays and Sundays when looking for car insurance places open on the weekend. We’d also be crazy not to mention that you can quickly get weekend auto insurance using our free tool above, which makes buying auto insurance for the weekend easy.

Top 10 Auto Insurance Companies by Market Share

These companies with a large market share tend to have weekend business hours for quotes, questions, and claims. This makes it very convenient for people who are searching for insurance companies that are open on Saturday or Sunday.

The Bottom Line: How to Get Car Insurance on the Weekend

Most national insurance companies offer round-the-clock customer service, so you’ll be able to get weekend insurance on a car pretty easy. You may also be able to get weekend only car insurance coverage online. If you work with an agency, you need to talk with them to see if they can accommodate you. Some policies have a clause that will automatically cover a newly acquired vehicle temporarily.