How much will my car insurance go up?

[torinsmom]

So, if you have added a 16 year old to your policy, how much did the insurance go up? And if your child is 16 but still has their permit vs. a license, do you have to add them to your insurance? I am a little scared! My insurance is less than $800/year right now.

 

[sharonmickey]

My insurance said not to add my DD until she got her license. I live in Pennsylvania, not sure about other states.

 

[dmslush]

I did not add my daughter until she got her license, my insurance basically doubled when I added her to it. I started out at about $1000 a year and am now $2000 per year.

 

[Sadie22]

Talk to your agent about when the child needs to be added. Ask if there are any good student discounts. We're with State Farm and there was a driver safety program with a video and handbook that the boys completed which resulted in a discount. They were rated on the oldest vehicles we owned for the lowest rates.

The biggest thing is not to rush to have the child driving, especially driving alone, and have strict rules about where the child can drive, when, and whether siblings and/or friends can be in the car. For various reasons having to do when Mom and Dad had time to ride with them and waiting until we moved to a more rural area to practice, our boys did not get their licenses immediately upon reaching the minimum age. They continue to be very safe drivers. My brothers' kids had a lot of accidents and tickets as young drivers which my brothers felt were inevitable. I'm fairly certain they paid a lot more for auto insurance than we did.

 

[torinsmom]

That is not quite as bad as I thought. I did a quote online and it said for just me $299, then when I added DS(not another car, just him as a driver), it was over $1200. Can that even be right? That quote was with Geico, and the coverage was not as good as what I have now.

I don't have to add him while he is 15 with a permit. I just didn't know if something changed when he turns 16 or if the change comes when he is a licensed driver who will be driving my car. DS has had his permit since January, but does not really want to practice at all, so he may not even get his license in January, or he may get it, but still not want to drive.

Marsha

 

[springandmac]

We hadto add DD16 to our policy when she got her learners. I think it was $17 extra. She still has a learners until October but we were told full coverage would be $750 every 6 months.

 

[torinsmom]

Talk to your agent about when the child needs to be added. Ask if there are any good student discounts. We're with State Farm and there was a driver safety program with a video and handbook that the boys completed which resulted in a discount. They were rated on the oldest vehicles we owned for the lowest rates.

The biggest thing is not to rush to have the child driving, especially driving alone, and have strict rules about where the child can drive, when, and whether siblings and/or friends can be in the car. For various reasons having to do when Mom and Dad had time to ride with them and waiting until we moved to a more rural area to practice, our boys did not get their licenses immediately upon reaching the minimum age. They continue to be very safe drivers. My brothers' kids had a lot of accidents and tickets as young drivers which my brothers felt were inevitable. I'm fairly certain they paid a lot more for auto insurance than we did.

DS is very nervous about driving, so I am not rushing him. I am actually glad that he respects that it is a big responsibility. NC does not allow more than one unrelated child in the car with a driver during their first year driving. They are not allowed to use cell phones in the car and can only drive between the hours of 5am and 9pm. I plan to have DS drive to and from school(5 miles on fairly straight and not really busy roads) and church(3 miles of the same) for quite awhile once he has his license before setting him loose. Better safe than sorry. Too many young kids getting killed around here these days before they even graduate high school. :-(

 

[fakereadhed]

We switched to Progressive and the savings from that made it the same price to add my DD. I haven't made a claim yet, but I am pleased becuase they didn't forget to send a renewal notice like our local agent.

 

[gem21]

Just remember, typically teenage/young adult males tend to be more expensive re: car isurance than females do.

(I really know nothing about car insurance except that, )

 

[torinsmom]

Yes, now I do remember that boys are more expensive. I guess because they tend to go faster/get more tickets. Seems unfair, but so are higher rates for drivers with lower credit scores.

 

[swilshire]

So, if you have added a 16 year old to your policy, how much did the insurance go up? And if your child is 16 but still has their permit vs. a license, do you have to add them to your insurance? I am a little scared! My insurance is less than $800/year right now.

Our insurance company does not require you to specifically add the child until they get an actual license. Not required when they have a permit.

I think ours will go up $300 - $400 a month, so we are making DS16 stick with his permit for now. Even DS22 still costs us a lot to insure.

Sheila

 

[bzkds]

When I added my son to our policy, our rate went up $88/month. 2 years later when I added my daughter, it went up another $67. Unfortunately for all of us (they pay half), neither of them qualified for the good student discount.
Beth

 

[SandrA9810]

You can have a learners for like 8 years before needing to renew it or getting your actual license. I drove for a very long time on a learners permit, and didn't bother me much at all. My only problem was finally taking the driving test, I was still scared to death, because the longer you drive the more relaxed you get about driving and I was afraid I was doing everything wrong. But I passed without a problem. And still made it to my birthday lunch with Shamu.

 

[hambirg]

Do like my parents. Once I got my license and was driving to and from work, my
Dad came to me and said, "Here's your car insurance bill." I was kinda shocked, but said, "Uh. . gee . . ok, Dad." And I paid it. He told me to keep my grades up because I was getting the good student discount. The following year I had saved enough to buy my own car. . .and same thing. . .I paid my own insurance.

 

[DisnyMama]

I have AAA and my insurance was between $800-$900 per year for myself. Last year when DS was 18 with his learners permit (he's been in no hurry to drive) I had to add him to my insurance and the extra $$$ was whether permit or License. Anyway my rate trippled to $2700 a year !!

Due to finances a year later I had to remove DS from my insurance so he is taking the bus which he seems to do very well. Infact, he is able to get a student bus pass for $15 per month . Can't beat that.

 

[Green Tea]

The bigger jump is if you add another car when he gets a license.

 

[jam217]

According to my State Farm agent, it doesn't matter anymore if the teenage driver is a boy or girl -- the rates are now the same.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

DH and I were just talking aout this yesterday. I have to say these numbers are scary! It is interesting the big difference in numbers though. DD will be 16 soon, guess we'd better get used to the idea of insurance going way up.

 

[Darcy03231]

When we added DD we also added another car. Insurance went up about $1000 a year.

 

[sk!mom]

The bigger jump is if you add another car when he gets a license.

It's been a few years so things may have changed but when we priced out different options with our insurance when DS25 was 16, the cheapest option was to add a car with liability coverage only and list him as the primary driver of that car. This option was much cheaper than listing him as a driver of one of our cars with full coverage.