Our insurance company (
AAA, Interagency Insurance Exchange) does not offer a reduced rate for students living away without a car. DS went to school out of state, and because it was so far away (900 miles and 5 states from here), we knew he would probably only come home for a few days at Christmas, so probably 2 weeks a year. Our agent told us that we would be paying a full year's premium to have him within reach of our cars for a whole 14 days, so over $100/day to cover him, which she said was crazy. She advised us to have him change his driver's license to his school address immediately when he moved to college, and that because it was an out of state license, there would be no problem removing him from the policy, and that for the few days he was home for holidays, we could let him drive our cars as a houseguest. Worked like a charm. While he was in school he just used their Enterprise car share (insurance included in the rate) if he needed a car for something, and otherwise rode his bike or took Lyft or Uber. We bought him a used car as a college graduation gift, and he insured that separately in his own name in the state where he lives. (I should note that when he changed his DL, he also put his school address on all his school records, student loans, voter registration and Selective Service registration, even his library cards, and he also relocated his bank accounts. It did not change his residency for tuition purposes because there was a waiting period for that, but for everything else, he had officially cut ties completely with this state. Our address appeared absolutely nowhere on any official documentation of his after that date.)
When he first insured the car on his own, the premium (with Progressive) was insanely high, but they told us that was because he had never been insured in his own name before, and that it would be eligible to be re-quoted after 6 months. After 6 months clean they reduced it by 30%, but at the end of the year they sent a bill that would have renewed it at the same rate. I helped him shop around, and actually did a fully new quote online with Progressive that came in 68% cheaper than the adjusted rate, having been a customer for a year with a completely clean record and no accidents or tickets ever, and that was considerably cheaper than all the other quotes he got. He also has a very high credit rating because I put him on one of my credit cards as an authorized user when he was 18, the card for emergency use only unless I gave him advance permission for something specific (like textbooks), which meant I paid it when he used it. He essentially nearly inherited my credit rating, and that also helped lower his rate quite a bit.
