Auto Insurance - for a teen driver.

[JessicaR]

OK so my son passed his road test yesterday. He just turned 17. I made the dreaded phone call to our insurance broker. I should hear from him today.

So, what do you all pay to insure your teen drivers? Apparently he has to have his own policy. And so it begins...

 

[LindaR]

Oh, is that a state law for him to have to have his own policy? It's less expensive to add to your own policy.

When dd got her permit and I purchased a car for her, it was not too bad. Because I was adding a car, I got a small discount (multi-car). Because she got good grades, there was another discount.

I would look at adding him instead of getting his own policy!

 

[DebbieB]

OK so my son passed his road test yesterday. He just turned 17. I made the dreaded phone call to our insurance broker. I should hear from him today.

So, what do you all pay to insure your teen drivers? Apparently he has to have his own policy. And so it begins...

He would only have his own policy if he has his own car.

 

[iwrbnd]

It added $100 to our insurance every month.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

Both my 20 year old DD and 16 year old DS are on our auto policy. We are insured through Geico. DD cost per month is $92 she has an 09 Scion. DS has an 01 Neon and his insurance per month is $75. We have 100/300 and full coverage except no collision on the 01 Neon. Both have good student discount and DD gets good driver discount and they both did driving school.

I don't see why they need their own insurance?

 

[ChristmasElf]

Sounds like your insurance agent is trying to make some money off of you by telling you he needs his own policy.

My oldest is 24, lives at home, works full time as well as going to college, and yet is still on our policy.
Our 18 year old just got his car and he was just added to the policy with a simple phone call.
They are able to save a LOT of money this way by all being on our policy-they each pay there own share each month when the bill comes in.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

If you insure your son on his own policy, if he gets into an accident or gets a ticket, it's his policy that will raise in price for 3 years (and by a lot). If he's insured on your policy and the same happens, expect your coverage to rise and again, by a lot. So it's up to you where you want to contain the risk. Personally if you have a lot of assets, I would never place a child on your policy, the risk is too high IMO.

When I turned 16, there were a few things my parents told me. First, they'll buy me a new car, second I was responsible for the insurance and I had to have my own policy to defer the risk to me. I choose a sports car (convertible too) and my insurance was around $3,500 a year for full coverage.

Insurance rates vary dramatically based on location, so I think asking this on a forum with a broad user base from many different regions is going to get you severely different results (seeing your in Long Island - and depending on where on the Island, you could be paying A LOT as I am sure you are already).

 

[cabanafrau]

I'm so relieved to hear approx. $100/month is common. I've been anxious it would be much higher when I call to add DD this summer. I thought the good grade discount had been discontinued, but I sure hope that's still available, too.

 

[JessicaR]

Ok so a few question based on replies, please!

It was my husband that decided our son would get his own policy. Our agent didn't suggest it but did discuss it with us when we brought it up. If he gets in an accident and is sued our assets are protected. Is that correct?

We have four cars on our policy I am assuming, because I haven't received the quote yet, that my policy would rise drastically by adding him. My thinking is it may be cheaper to have his own policy then to insure him on all the cars. I dont think I can add him and pick one vehicle only that he would be covered under. Can I?

He will get three different deductions, good grades, drivers ed, and defensive driver course.

Thanks for any insight!

 

[cabanafrau]

I believe for any driver, not just your child, you can list them as an excluded driver on a particular vehicle(s). As far as protecting your assets, if it's a minor, the parents are responsible. Once they are not a minor, as long as you are not an owner of a vehicle, I don't believe a parent can be held responsible.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I believe for any driver, not just your child, you can list them as an excluded driver on a particular vehicle(s). As far as protecting your assets, if it's a minor, the parents are responsible. Once they are not a minor, as long as you are not an owner of a vehicle, I don't believe a parent can be held responsible.

From recollection, if the child has their own policy and are legally able to drive and are involved in an accident, assets and coverages that are owned by the child can be attached to any claim. NY is also a little different in that we are a No-Fault state in terms of medical, so that adds a little the confusion. Although its not impossible to pass responsibility from the child who is insured to the parents, it is unlikely to happen.

I've been out of the loop on individual teen policies for a while and there are a lot of new laws in NY regarding teen drivers, so things could be different.

It's good to note, this is a good time to review your coverage as well. Make sure you have enough coverage either direct on the policy or through an umbrella policy.

 

[Pakey]

Ok so a few question based on replies, please!

It was my husband that decided our son would get his own policy. Our agent didn't suggest it but did discuss it with us when we brought it up. If he gets in an accident and is sued our assets are protected. Is that correct?

We have four cars on our policy I am assuming, because I haven't received the quote yet, that my policy would rise drastically by adding him. My thinking is it may be cheaper to have his own policy then to insure him on all the cars. I dont think I can add him and pick one vehicle only that he would be covered under. Can I?

He will get three different deductions, good grades, drivers ed, and defensive driver course.

Thanks for any insight!

In California anyway, even if he has his own policy, your assets are not protected if he is living in your home and being supported by you. When our sons got to driving age, we chose to get an umbrella policy to protect our assets (we had enough to worry about it). With 3 teenage sons, we dealt with 5 automobile accidents, one serious enough to involve a lawsuit, so we were happy we carried the umbrella.

We did not insure our sons on all cars; they were assigned to be the driver on one car and the rates on the other vehicles we owned did not change. They were assigned to be the driver on the car with the least value; in fact, we specifically bought a junker type of vehicle for youngest son to be assigned (it's not the one he drove) because his rates were the worst.

Our sons are a bit older now (youngest is almost 29) but our insurance drastically changed once there was an accident (only oldest of the 3 did not have one). Without an accident, our premiums for their cars were about $200/month. After an accident/claim, they jumped to $600/month. My youngest only had his license for 9 days when he had his first accident so we paid $600/month on him almost from the beginning.

 

[Green Tea]

The larger increase in fee was when we added a third car to a three driver household. When DS was an "occasional" driver of the card in a 2 car, 3 driver household it was not too much. The third car bumped it enormously.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We also got an umbrella policy. Well worth imo, since let's face it car insurance only stretches so far.

We also have a boat and jet skis (and a pool back in TX) so we decided we have a lot of liability to cover.

Now we don't have the pool but we are keeping the umbrella policy.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

We did not insure our sons on all cars; they were assigned to be the driver on one car and the rates on the other vehicles we owned did not change. They were assigned to be the driver on the car with the least value; in fact, we specifically bought a junker type of vehicle for youngest son to be assigned (it's not the one he drove) because his rates were the worst.

Did he get into an accident with the vehicle he was not specified on? If so I'm shocked you were not dropped immediately and this noted in your insurance file (record).

That is a BIG NO, NO. Make sure your son is included on EVERY vehicle he may drive.

 

[daughtersrus]

When our oldest DD got her license, we added her as a driver to our policy. At the time, we only had two cars. When we got a third car, we were told that she had to be "rated" on one of the cars but could drive any. The agent went through all of the cars and figured out which one would be the cheapest. She also gave them her report card and got a discount for good grades. State Farm has a program called "Steer Clear". She completed that as well before she got her license so we got a discount for that.

When our second DD got her license, we added her again as a driver. The agent shuffled us around on the cars so that we would be paying the least. She also got the discounts for Steer Clear and good grades. When we got a fourth car, DD2 had to be rated on a car. It ended up being the cheapest to rate her on the old car that my dad had given us.

DD1 is rated on the van that I drive the most, I am rated on the car that DH drives the most (it wouldn't matter because we are both accident free and old but that's just the way it worked out) and DH is rated on DD1's car.

DD2 got into a minor accident in a parking lot. She ended up loosing the Steer Clear discount but not the accident free discount. I guess that they forgive one and in over the 29 years that we've had State Farm, we've never had an accident that was our fault. DD2's premium went up but it did not change any of the other 3 cars that we have.

My DD's are 20 and 23yo now but when they first got the were first added to our policy it went up by less then $200 a year. When they were rated on a car, those policies were very close to what we were paying. I think it was about $560 a year but that was for their own cars. DD2's is more because of the accident. I think that she's paying about $800 a year now.

Check and see if your insurance company offers any type of defensive driving course that could reduce the cost.

 

[Pakey]

Did he get into an accident with the vehicle he was not specified on? If so I'm shocked you were not dropped immediately and this noted in your insurance file (record).

That is a BIG NO, NO. Make sure your son is included on EVERY vehicle he may drive.

No, I did not make myself clear. He was able to drive any of our cars but he was "assigned" one car as being the primary driver on; his rates were attached to that car but he could drive any of ours.

 

[ZachnElli]

Did he get into an accident with the vehicle he was not specified on? If so I'm shocked you were not dropped immediately and this noted in your insurance file (record).

That is a BIG NO, NO. Make sure your son is included on EVERY vehicle he may drive.

In my state, your child only has to be listed on one car to be considered a driver in the household, not each car. A teenager could get into an accident driving a different car and as long as they were listed as a driver on a car, it didn't matter. Actually, they would still be covered even if they weren't listed as a driver yet, but would probably get dropped depending on the circumstances. Also, as long as they are a minor and you are the parent/guardian your assests are at risk if they are in an at fault accident and there is a lawsuit. Rates really vary depending on so many factors, from area (big city vs. small town), the kind of car (price a teenager on a Camero, I dare you, lol!), type of coverages, deductibles, good student discounts, etc.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

No, I did not make myself clear. He was able to drive any of our cars but he was "assigned" one car as being the primary driver on; his rates were attached to that car but he could drive any of ours.

That makes more sense. Some coverages allow for you to specify a specific vehicle and restrict them to just that vehicle.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Rates really vary depending on so many factors, from area (big city vs. small town), the kind of car (price a teenager on a Camero, I dare you, lol!), type of coverages, deductibles, good student discounts, etc.

That was the exact car I had, my parents bought me a 1995 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible (Hunter Green with Tan Interior)...thus the $3,500 insurance coverage.