When it comes to purchasing a new vehicle, you will want to ensure that you have insurance to go with your car from the very start. You don't want to buy a car and drive off the lot without having insurance. An accident can literally happen at any moment, and you need to be prepared for that possibility.

1. Call Your Insurance Company Yourself 

When you purchase a car at a dealership, the car staff will often tell you that they will take care of the insurance paperwork for you. However, you should never leave something as important as verifying that your vehicle has been added to your insurance to someone else. Before you drive the car off the lot, you will want to call your car insurance to ensure that your new vehicle has been added to your policy. That is your responsibility to take care of. If you get into an accident, you are the one who is going to have to pay.

2. Know What Coverage You Need

Second, you will want to ensure that you have the right coverage for your new vehicle. In most states, you are going to need liability insurance on your car to meet state requirements.

If you took out a loan with a new vehicle, you might also be required to carry both collision and comprehensive insurance. A collision insurance policy will protect your car if it is hit by another object or vehicle. Comprehensive insurance will cover your vehicle if it is damaged by something outside a collision, such as vandalism, fire, or theft. You want to ensure that you don't just have insurance but that you have the right insurance before you get in the vehicle and drive it off the lot.

3. Consider Gap Insurance

If you took out a loan to purchase the vehicle, you would want to consider gap insurance. Gap insurance is a smart move to make to ensure that your car loan will be paid in full in the event of a totaled vehicle.

4. Know How Long the Insurance Will Last

Finally, you are going to want to find out how long your vehicle will be insured. Usually, if you replace one vehicle with another, the coverage will last as long as it would have for the other car. So, if the coverage ended in three months for your other vehicle, it would end in three months for the new vehicle. Or, if the policy ended in a week, it would end in a week.

If you are in the process of purchasing a new vehicle, you need to call your insurance company and ensure your new vehicle has been added to your auto insurance policy and that you have adequate coverage. You also need to know how long the coverage will last so that you can renew the policy and ensure continued coverage.