Another Car Insurance Question

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-23-2003
Another Car Insurance Question
1
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 10:15pm
I'm hearing mixed information from friends about car insurance for students who attend college in a state different from where their parents live. My assumption was that the car gets insured in the state where the student predominantly lives during the year -- their school address; but I was told that it depends on the student's legal HOME address...(i.e., the parents' address). That seems wacky to me. Since there seem to be a number of people here with professional expertise in the insurance industry, can anyone clarify how this works? And what about during summer breaks? Does that change where the policy is maintained?
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-1999
Wed, 04-25-2007 - 1:32pm
You should def. check w/ your insurance agent instead of getting info from unreliable sources, but it depends on where the car is REGISTERED. I believe (w/o looking it up) that in MA law (where I live), you have to re-register your car and get a new driver's license w/in 30 days of moving into the state, but there is an exception for students. As you said, it wouldn't make sense if the child is going to move home for the summer. But I know on our insurance app., there is a question about "what is the principal place of garaging?" because the rates are higher if you live in certain cities and people might lie about where they live or say they live at a relative's address to get a lower rate, so when you insure the car, you have to tell the agent that for the most part, the car will be located out of state.