? about teens driving and insurance

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
? about teens driving and insurance
13
Mon, 04-23-2007 - 6:42pm

Hi. I have a question about auto insurance and teen drivers. My dd got her driver's license a couple of weeks ago. The day after she got her license, I called my insurance agent and told him to add her as a part-time driver to my car. My husband's car is a company car so she can't drive it.

Wouldn't you know, someone told me a couple of days after I called the agent, that if you have more drivers than vehicles in your household, you don't need to add your teen driver. Does anyone know if this is correct? If this is true, I could kick myself, because my insurance really skyrocketed. I was also told that if you have the same number of drivers as cars, or more cars than drivers than you need to add your teen. Please let me know if this is correct or not. Thanks so much!

P.S. If the above is correct...then I hope this info helps any parents out there whose teen is about to get their license.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 04-23-2007 - 7:41pm

I have never heard this and it sounds too good to be true

I know that you cannot remove your child from your insurance when he goes to college because he still may come home on weekends-I think there is an exception if he is >200 miles away. Anyway, that type of rule makes me think no way can this be correct

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-23-2003
Mon, 04-23-2007 - 10:36pm

I'm not sure, but I think it depends on what state you live in. I asked a couple of friends (who live in other states) about this, and that was their opinion too.

I do know that if you have a vehicle that your dd / ds primarily drives, you should still list yourself as the primary driver and your teen as a secondary driver. Otherwise, the costs skyrocket.

I am dealing with the heart-stoppingly high insurance rates because my son's dad bought him a new car. While the rationale was good (a new car is less likely to break down), the deal was that he would pay for the car and I would pay for the insurance. The insurance right now is around $3400 a year.... Living homeless on a park bench seems to be more and more imminent as we also start looking at college expenses! :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-12-2004
Mon, 04-23-2007 - 10:51pm

I think someone has found a way to justify "cheating" on car insurance, lol. I have never heard of being able to hide who drives your car just because of how many cars you own. We found that it was much cheaper to buy my dd a used car and list her as primary driver than to add her to my car. The insurance on her car, with a discount for good grades and no tickets is only $825 per year.

Robin

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 10:34am
Thanks Goaliesmom1 on the info about listing yourself and not your kid as the primary driver. I will remember that. I can't believe the cost of insurance. Just save a spot for me on that park bench! I'll need it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 10:37am
Wow...you got a good rate! Maybe I better shop around a little. When I added our dd with the part-time status, good grade discount, and no tickets, we are still paying $1,000 a year extra! Maybe it depends on where you live too. We live in CT.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2004
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 10:47am

I work in at an insurance agency in PA. In this state, you have to add any drivers living in your household, that includes teens. Not disclosing a driver can lead to cancellation of the policy if they find out. It has nothing to do with the number of vehicles you have. If you have more vehicles than drivers, you can put your teen on as occasional driver. But they must be on the policy and yes, the premium is through the roof. I have a 19 dd and when we put her on at 17 our insurance more than doubled. There are just 3 of us, dh myself and dd and we have 2 vehicles.

Andie

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-1999
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 12:35pm

I am a lawyer in MA specializing in car accidents. It has nothing to do w/ the amount of vehicles vs. the number of drivers in the house. Every person in the household who drives the car has to be listed on the insurance as soon as they get their license, although kids can be listed as occasional drivers. If you get in an accident, the ins. co. will still pay liability (damage to the other person), but won't pay for the damage to your own car and there could be other problems as well.

When we added DD to our policy, it cost an extra $1000, but when she got her own car (and so couldn't be an occasional driver), her policy cost $2500. Through changing ins. cos. to one where we got a 5% discount for being a AAA member, plus she got the low mileage discount, now it's down to $2000, which she has to pay for herself, since we are mean parents.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-14-1999
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 1:05pm
It may depend on your state- however,as someone who works in the Insurance Industry (Claims!) I can tell you that if you have a teenaged driver in the house and he/she is NOT on the policy as a driver- that spells a BIG RED FLAG to the Insurance Co should that driver be involved in an accident- every driver in the house should be listed on the policy regardless of how many vehicles you have. I have 2 cars - but DS is on the policy.
Kathy
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-12-2004
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 2:03pm

Could be...we are in MI. We have been with State Farm for more than 20 years and we have multiple policies discounts also.

Robin

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2006
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 2:35pm
GOOD GRIEF.......My DD is getting ready to turn 16. I was hoping to get her an inexpensive car, rather than drive her the 20 minutes to her lifeguarding job. (we live in a very rural area so everything is a distance away) I wanted to pay the down payment and then she'll take over payments after that. Now that I see how much teen insurance is she can forget that. $1,000? WOW, I had no idea. I can barely afford the $660 a year it costs me. ugh.... Someone even mentioned $3600? That's about the price of the car I'm looking at. Poor kid will never get to drive now. lol

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