Insurance that fits your needs.
Cars, trucks, and off-road vehicles all have one thing in common: they need to be insured before they can hit the road.
Trouble is, most insurance companies struggle with anything outside the norm. Have a street legal UTV, a car owned by an LLC in Montana, or a vehicle registered out-of-state? Regular insurance companies don't have a clue what any of that means.
We’ve spent the better part of a decade finding the best insurance companies for these situations, so you don’t have to. Our goal is to get you connected with the right people without having to take an entire day to do it.
Whether you have a regular car or truck, imported vehicle, classic car, kit car, or off-road machine, these are the insurance companies we know and trust to get you on the road. We have personally worked with each of these companies and they do good work, plain and simple.
Note: New York and California residents registering in Montana should call Steve at Select Insurance directly at 314-368-9125.
OUR TOP PICK: Select Insurance Group
Dirt Legal Contact: Steve Ludwig
📞 314-368-9125 (Call or Text)
It always helps to know your insurance company excels at specialty vehicle insurance for strange situations, and that’s where Select excels.
With a background in high-risk situations like SR-22 and FR-44, as well as home and boat insurance, Select can insure anything we work with at Dirt Legal. That means military vehicles (Humvee, LMTVs, etc.), RVs/buses/conversions, UTVs and side-by-sides, dirt bikes and other OHVs, and of course regular vehicles – even ones with salvage and rebuilt titles. With coverage in 48 states*, Select knows the ins and outs of things other companies are baffled by. Tell Select you were referred by Dirt Legal for the best possible rate.
* Coverage not available in Alaska and Hawaii.
New York and California residents registering in Montana should call Steve at Select Insurance directly at 314-368-9125.
Twin Peaks is a specialty independent agency with licenses in 40 states that'll offer you a no-stress, hassle-free way to save money on insurance. More importantly, they'll be able to insure your vehicle no matter what special situation you have.
They have special programs designed to meet the needs of RVs, vessels, automobiles, side by sides, and more. They're able to insure vehicle with out-of-state plates and Montana LLCs. Click here to get your quote today and speak with one of their specialists.
Tell them you were referred to by Dirt Legal to get the best possible rate.
The problem with specialty vehicle insurance
Like it or not, any vehicle driven on public roads in the United States needs to be insured. But how exactly does that work in odd situations? What state should the vehicle be insured in? What does the coverage actually look like?
Let’s explore some answers as they relate to the services we offer here at Dirt Legal. Our goal is to save you hours of calls and confusion by demystifying insurance from top to bottom.
Dirt Legal does not provide insurance and we cannot help you with filing a claim. We are enthusiasts, not attorneys. This is not legal advice.
Regular vehicles (cars, trucks, etc.)
Regular vehicles will generally get a policy from your home state regardless of where they are titled, registered, or plated. Your new policy will typically not be any different than what you’re already used to. This will also be the case if your vehicle is registered under an LLC and should also hold true for kit cars, race cars, and homebuilt vehicles regardless of registration state.
Collectibles and exotics
For high-performance and high-value autos, insurance companies almost always want proof that the vehicle is kept in a locked garage or storage facility – somewhere more secure than your typical side-of-the-road parking spot or public lot or garage. Also, you will usually need to prove that you have another vehicle for everyday use.
Most companies don’t want you putting more than 5,000 miles per year on an exotic or collectible vehicle, but some will allow higher mileage – or even unlimited mileage – with the trade-off being higher premiums. Some companies also have age restrictions, such as only covering collectible vehicles that are 25 years or older.
For vehicles registered to an LLC, if you have an exotic or collectible car that is driven less than 5,000 miles a year, your insurance policy will likely be based in the state where the LLC is located, like Montana. Otherwise, the policy will be based in your home state.
Off-road vehicles (OHVs, UTV, dirt bikes, military, etc.)
There are additional considerations for vehicles converted to street legal, like street legal UTVs and dirt bikes, Humvees and military vehicles, and other OHVs.
Any vehicle used on public roads need to be insured for on-road use. Sounds obvious, but it’s easy to accidentally overlook this critical element. You must ensure that your insurance policy covers your off-road vehicle for on-road use. This is often called having a street legal endorsement on your policy. If a street legal endorsement is not present with unlimited on-road use, you are only covered for off-road use or incidental road use at best (such as crossing a road while using a trail).
Most insurance companies default to an off-road or incidental road use policy unless you specifically tell them otherwise, so be sure to say the magic words “street legal endorsement” when insuring these types of vehicles.
Still want coverage for off-road use in places like trails, public lands, and OHV areas? In our experience, a street legal policy usually includes coverage for off-road use as well, but it never hurts to double-check.
UTV owners: Check out our Street Legal UTV Insurance Guide for even more information!
RVs, skoolies, overlanders, exploration vehicles, and van life
With these sorts of vehicles, it is imperative that you not only have them titled and registered correctly, but also insured correctly.
Problems often arise from the type of license the operator has clashing with how the vehicle is registered (commercial vs. noncommercial), and if you are traveling without a permanent residence, not having a garaging address can cause issues as well.
When you talk to the insurance company, it helps to explain the following factors to the best of your ability:
Registration status. If it was originally a commercial vehicle and no longer is – as is often the case with converted school buses and high-capacity vans – explain that the vehicle is now registered as a noncommercial vehicle. This would also be a good time to mention if those additional seats have been physically removed from the vehicle.
Living appointments. At times, specific equipment in your vehicle might cause it to be insured differently. For example, a van with built-in hookups, onboard water and waste tanks, and built-in solar power might be insured differently than a van that has none of those things. Explain your vehicle’s living-related features to the best of your ability.
Home address, if any. If you consider this vehicle to be your home for all intents and purposes, you will want to explain that to your insurance company. Include whether or not you still lay claim to a brick-and-mortar residence anywhere – even in another country – and explain the state(s) where the vehicle will likely spend most of its time.
Boats, yachts, and airplanes
If you bought a service from us involving a boat, yacht, vessel, or airplane, contact us and we’ll see what we can do to help you find insurance.
Do I need to find a new insurance company?
Having done this for the better part of a decade, we can tell you that most insurance companies don’t have much experience with the situations we specialize in at Dirt Legal, such as insuring cars registered to LLCs in Montana, OHVs registered as street legal, and vehicles with replacement titles and license plates coming from other states. That’s pretty uncommon stuff in the grand scheme of things, and if your insurance company gets anything wrong about your policy, it’s YOU that will be in hot water in the event of a claim, not them. Ask us how we know.
Those situations are totally foreign to most big-box and local insurance companies, but there are specialty companies out there who know exactly what to do. That’s why we don’t recommend just any old insurance company – we’ve vetted countless companies over the years, and there’s only a handful we trust to get the job done right.
If you do try to work with your existing insurance company, give as much information as possible. Clarify the following points to the best of your knowledge:
What state the vehicle is registered in
What state the vehicle’s license plate is in
What state the vehicle is garaged in
Whether it is your primary vehicle
For specialty vehicles like street legal UTVs, converted school buses, military vehicles, and street legal dirt bikes, also clarify these additional points:
What kind of vehicle it is (i.e., converted dirt bike, military vehicle, street legal UTV, etc.)
How it is registered (e.g., a Polaris RZR UTV registered as a street legal quadricycle in Montana)
What ownership documents you have (title, registration, etc.)
The most common issue we see with regular cars and trucks is that companies don’t to work with out-of-state plates. When it comes to insuring specialty vehicles for road use, most companies don’t want to do it at all. Again, that’s why we suggest going with a trusted entity who knows their way around this sort of thing.
Dirt Legal does not provide insurance and we cannot help you with filing a claim. We are enthusiasts, not attorneys. This is not legal advice.