Do Snowbirds Need Florida Car Insurance and Plates?

Can a Snowbird Register a Car in Florida?

Yes, but a snowbird usually does not have to. Florida does not make a nonresident register a car that is properly registered in its home state, so a car spending the winter in Florida can keep its home plates. Florida registration becomes due when you become a Florida resident or take a step such as starting a job there, which section 320.38 of the Florida Statutes ties to a 10-day deadline.

Insurance runs on a different clock. Once the car has been in Florida for more than 90 days during the preceding 365, Florida law requires coverage that meets its requirements for as long as the car stays in the state, even on home plates. Keeping those two rules apart is the main thing a winter visitor needs to get right.

This guide covers a car that comes to Florida for the season and goes home again in spring. If you are moving to Florida for good, our guide to Florida registration steps for new residents covers the title, the VIN check and the service center visit.

Can You Keep Your Home State Plates for the Winter?

Yes, while you are a nonresident. Section 320.37 of the Florida Statutes says Florida's registration and plate requirements do not apply to a vehicle owned by a nonresident who has complied with the registration law of the home state and displays that registration as the home state requires.

In practice, that means the home registration has to stay valid the whole time the car is in Florida. If it comes up for renewal over the winter, renew it from Florida through your home state rather than letting it lapse.

The same section lists vehicles the exemption does not cover, including cars operated for hire, commercial vehicles, vehicles of a foreign corporation doing business in Florida, and recreational vehicles or mobile homes kept in Florida for six consecutive months or more.

When Does Florida Require Insurance on an Out-of-State Car?

After 90 days. Section 627.733(2) of the Florida Statutes requires every nonresident owner or registrant of a motor vehicle that has been physically present in Florida for more than 90 days during the preceding 365 days to keep security in force, continuously, for as long as the vehicle remains in Florida.

The security the statute has in mind is described in section 627.733(3): an insurance policy delivered or issued for delivery in Florida that provides the state's no-fault benefits, or another method the state approves as equivalent. The Florida Department of Financial Services Automobile Insurance Toolkit (June 2023) puts the minimum limits at $10,000 of personal injury protection (PIP) and $10,000 of property damage liability (PD) for anyone in Florida with their vehicle for more than 90 days in the last 365.

A policy written in your home state may or may not meet that standard. Ask your insurer directly whether your policy satisfies Florida's requirements once the car passes 90 days in the state, or whether you need a Florida policy for the winter, and get the answer in writing before the car heads south.

How Do You Count the 90 Days?

Count every day the car is in Florida within the last 365, not only the days you drive it. The statute speaks of a vehicle physically present in the state, so a car sitting in a condo garage while you travel is still adding days.

The days also do not have to run together. The DFS toolkit says the 90 days do not need to be consecutive, so two shorter stays in the same 365-day window can add up. A car that arrives in early November passes 90 days in early February.

What Turns a Winter Stay Into Florida Residency?

Florida law defines a resident as a person whose principal place of domicile is in Florida, and section 320.01(34) adds anyone who has registered to vote in Florida, made a statement of domicile, or filed for a homestead tax exemption. Everyone else is a nonresident under section 320.01(35).

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) lists the events that make you a resident for vehicle purposes on its New Resident page: starting a job, enrolling children in a Florida public school, registering to vote, filing for a homestead exemption, or living in Florida for more than six consecutive months. From that point, it gives you 10 days to title and register the car and 30 days to get a Florida driver license.

Section 320.38 also reaches nonresidents. A nonresident who takes a job or works in a trade in Florida, or enters children in a Florida public school, has to register the car within 10 days, with an exception for migrant and seasonal farm workers. Full-time college students enrolled in Florida are exempt for the length of their enrollment.

A season that stays under six months, with no job, school enrollment, voter registration or homestead filing, keeps you a nonresident for registration. It does not stop the 90-day insurance rule.

What Does Your Home State Still Expect While the Car Is Away?

Your home state keeps its own rules on registration renewal, inspection and insurance while the car is in Florida, and those rules differ from state to state. Check when your registration and any inspection sticker expire before the car leaves, and ask your home state's motor vehicle agency how it handles a renewal or inspection that falls due while you are away.

For a car registered in New York, our guide to keeping a New York inspection and registration current from Florida covers the out-of-state extension. For other states, the motor vehicle agency's own pages are the place to confirm it.

How Does Shipping Fit a Winter in Florida?

Shipping lets you fly down and meet the car, and it keeps the long highway trip off the odometer twice a year. Book the southbound trip early in the fall, when snowbird demand fills trucks heading to Florida, and plan the spring return around the date you leave rather than the last possible day.

The day the car reaches Florida is when its days in the state start adding up, so note the delivery date on the bill of lading and keep it with your insurance papers.

Rivalane coordinates door to door transport with licensed, insured carriers. We typically assign a carrier within one to three working days after you book, and pickup and delivery dates are estimates, not guarantees. Our page on seasonal car shipping for snowbirds explains how winter moves are scheduled, and our route pages cover moving a car between Vermont and Florida for the winter, moving a car between Rhode Island and Florida for the winter, moving a car between Wisconsin and Florida for the winter and moving a car between Pennsylvania and Florida for the winter. You can price any of these lanes in either direction with the car shipping calculator.

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