car insurance for teen driver question

[fakereadhed]

If you don't have to add them until they get their license, let them drive with a permit as long as possible. It's a milestone to get your license when you turn 16, but if the kid's not driving anywhere by themselves the don't need it. My Dd was a little upset, but we made her wait until she needed to commute to a school that had no busses. Yes I am so mean,but she survived!

We switched to Progressive and added our daughter and her 98 Camry with liability for no increase compared to our old policy with Farmers.

 

[deerhart]

If you don't have to add them until they get their license, let them drive with a permit as long as possible. It's a milestone to get your license when you turn 16, but if the kid's not driving anywhere by themselves the don't need it. My Dd was a little upset, but we made her wait until she needed to commute to a school that had no busses. Yes I am so mean,but she survived!

We switched to Progressive and added our daughter and her 98 Camry with liability for no increase compared to our old policy with Farmers.

Check your state laws first. I know when I got my driving permit, it was only valid for a certain length of time and then expired on my 16th b-day and could not be renewed. Also, even when driving on a permit, they should be insured on your insurance.

You really don't want to run the risks of giving your insurance carrier ANY reason to deny a claim.

 

[DebMcDonald]

Check your state laws first. I know when I got my driving permit, it was only valid for a certain length of time and then expired on my 16th b-day and could not be renewed. Also, even when driving on a permit, they should be insured on your insurance.

You really don't want to run the risks of giving your insurance carrier ANY reason to deny a claim.

In Mass our permits are good for 2 years. Also in Mass you can NOT put your kids on your insurance until they have their license, during the permit they are covered by the over 21 adult teaching them to drive at the moment which in itself is

 

[dfchelbay]

Also, find out about how it might affect your homeowners policy too. When our DS began driving, they also raised our homeowners insurance rate. They said it was because of a young driver in the house.

 

[pixiewings71]

We have AAA too and when we added DD to our policy the ins. cost was not that much more. She was driving a car that we already had but according to our AAA agent putting the car in her name did not change the fact that we had to insure her. Since she lived with us and drove, had access to our cars and keys we HAD to insure her, even if she'd had insurance from a different company we would have to notify AAA and add to our existing policy. Once she turned 17 we signed the car over to her, she was paying us for her ins. and once she moved out we could remove her from AAA. Very interesting to hear other things. Oh and she's almost 22 now so this was a few years ago.

 

[Judique]

Our son is 16 1/2 and just got his license. I dreaded going to add him to the insurance, but it is only costing $116.00 every 6 months. We have State Farm and also have our home with them. He was able to get 3 discounts....driver's ed, good student, and Steer Clear....which is a program they have where he fills out a booklet everytime he drives detailing his experiences. The parent has to sign that he actually did it. They said it will be a lot more once we get another car, but for now he drives one of ours. I was pleasantly surprised at the cost.

This has also been my experience with State Farm. In addition, when the kids did get their own cars, the premiums were very good with State Farm. Both drove the clunkers at first and then earned their own new cars and policies. Once they were on their own policies (on their own cars with their name on the titles) even though they still lived at home going to college, my insurance dropped back to pre teenager rates.

 

[Debbie7452]

I used to have AAA and the teen prices were outrageous. They explained to me that they always consider the teen driver as the primary driver no matter what the actual situation(if they have their own car or not) and that's reflected in the rates. I shopped around and Nationwide considers all drivers as equal and averages the risk so it was a LOT cheaper to switch.

Ask the policy when you call around...it was very enlightening. We had been happy AAA customers for 15 years with perfect driving records...their loss!

 

[stczt]

Ds just turned 15 and is getting his permit next week, the plan is he will get his license at 17 unless things change where he has to drive to school. We have AAA and when I called getting info about permits,license and when to insure him they said our insurance will go up about $2000.00. Thats a general across the board guestimate. I havent called other companies, I have a year for that.

 

[Stacy9402]

Ok I called USAA because I have an almost 16 yr old daughter that has her permit. They will not put her own our insurance until she has her licenses. They said whoever the licensed 21 yr old in the vehicle supervising her would cover her. Anyways just a quote with no vehicle change and good grades & drivers ed discount the quote was $67 more a month to add her which means $402 more every 6 months which almost doubles our payment she may hold off on getting her licenses as she has no where to drive to the school is across the road. She walks..

 

[Trish Bessette]

We just went through this with our daughter. We have State Farm and they offer several premium reductions for teens which are quite substantial: "Steer Clear Safe Driver" which is a program from State Farm with a DVD for the teen to watch and a book to keep a log of her driving experiences (prior to getting her license). Also, a good student discount which required her to show her report card. (I think you have to be a least a B student) and the the premium reduction is given if your teen takes drivers education in school. Those three reductions added up to over $300. I researched the other insurance companies too, but found that having these discounts as well as the multi car discount and homeowners with State Farm couldn't be beat. Just call around and see where you get the best quote.

I agree!!!

I just called State Farm yesterday to add my DD16. We bought her a used car and added that car to our policy and she is the primary driver. We have 3 cars, homeowners, life insurance, IRA's, Boat, Motorcycle you name it with State Farm.

Damage...only $80 a month!! She got all the discounts - had to prove she did the Steer Clear booklet - faxed her High School GPA which is in the 90's and discounts were applied!

VERY HAPPY!!!