Car insurance for your underage kids

Joined
May 12, 2003
Messages
7,829
Location
Oklahoma
My 15 year old daughter will be driving soon. Been researching this and re-reading that excellent insurance thread on year a couple of weeks ago. Seems everyone I talk to have different opinions about insuring your children. I have State Farm with 100/300/100 and full coverage on all the vehicles below, which I'm starting to think I got too much. That 01 F150 sits a lot and my only be worth 4-5K and wondering if I really need full coverage on that. Anyway, while she's on the learners permit, SF told me no worries, she's covered. Now when she gets her license, the hammer drops and I will get 1M in umbrella coverage, but I have to move current insurance up to 250/500/250...but with other discounts and stuff, was told it's not as bad as I'd think. My question, since the cars are insured and covered by me, and I give her permission to drive the 06 Accord, why do I need to have a separate policy just for her? One of my good friends said that she's not even going to tell the insurance company that she has a teenage driver. If she gets into a wreck, play it off like she was going to the store and got into an accident. Could that actually work? I know, some of ya'll may think I'm looking at a way to cheat insurance, but I'm paying a boat load of insurance now. It's for the same cars. The cars are insured for A LOT. I don't think I'm cheating anything. Is there some sort of legal ramification if I did what my friend said when she starts driving? I mean, she'll have a legal drivers license and the cars are insured, so technically, why would that matter? I am meeting the legal insurance requirements in Oklahoma and then some. If ya'll got any type of experience with this, I'd be more than willing to listen and heed the advice.
 
My parents bought me a car at 16, but made me get my own insurance policy. They did want to risk their business/assets and they paid for an umbrella policy on top of my insurance. I think the liability only policy was $2000/yr and I was working part-time at grocery store for $7/hr.

We did stupid things... driving fast, drinking, parties, etc... Now with more distractions for teens, I'd make sure my insurance was up to snuff.
 
I don't think you're doing anything wrong. But usually either you get insurance for all your cars so she can drive any of them or you tell her to just drive one car and you get her a separate policy on that car and don't have her on your insurance on the other cars for a lower overall insurance bill. Just remember that if she crashes the cars where she's not on the insurance, the insurance just declines coverage so you basically have no insurance. Basically there's a requirement that everyone living at the same address need to be on the insurance otherwise they're not covered. Only loophole would be if she's living at a different address, then she can borrow the car and not need to be on the insurance.
 
The insurance company will find out the driving history of any new driver you add. Likely to be a surcharge for an inexperienced driver. When I had this with my wife's daughter they added the surcharge and then took away my good driving discount. When she moved to Brooklyn, the surcharge ended and the good driving discount was added back.

I would certainly get quotes from different companies. Some companies have good rates for some combo's of drivers, cars and locations and other companies have good rates for other combos.

Adding daughter as driver is one thing, adding a car for her is another (even more $$).
 
i have had to go through this twice with my kids. a new driver will be expensive no matter what car they drive. my kids for the first year when they started driving at 16 were about $2k for full coverage. after a year we took off the full coverage and it went down to $1k on an older vehicle. this is with all the discounts like good student, multi vehicle and home from the same company.

i don't understand the need for a separate policy for you kid. if they live under your roof usually you just add them to your policy. get the umbrella. there is a reason why new drivers are expensive .

On the not adding them to the policy and just letting them drive , you run the risk of losing everything. in my area , insurance companies run license and match addresses to see if there are any drivers not listed. if they live at your place and have ready access to your vehicle they will know . if they get into an accident they could consider it fraud and refuse to cover the incident.

usually the liability part of insurance is the most expensive. if your F150 is worth only 4-5 k i would just get liability only. Also, i would check other companies rates and see whats out there. no real loyalty to insurance companies anymore. they will drop you anytime and you can do the same.
 
Probably not worth having full coverage on the '01 F150. Ask what the price reduction would be and make the call. It won't go down as much as you think, I can almost bet that. Liability is the highest coverage portion.

Regarding the coverage on the cars, look at it this way: Your cars are insured more so than you, your wife, kids, etc. If you tell me "here, take my car to the store to get that stuff" and I cause an accident, I am fully insured as is your car, under your policy. Only difference is when there are driving-age/licensed drivers in your home, you have to list them to your insurance company. Technically, one driver gets "assigned" to a car but it doesn't mean they can't drive any other car(s). I see '17 and '18 vehicles in your signature and it might be cheaper to assign your daughter to one of those because they are soooooo much safer (multiple airbags, traction control, lane-keep, brake assist, and so on).
 
Originally Posted by bmwpowere36m3
My parents bought me a car at 16, but made me get my own insurance policy.
How does someone under the age of 18 get a separate insurance policy, i.e. a contractual agreement between them and an insurance carrier ? Anyone under 18 normally can't enter into any sort of legal agreement.
 
Not sure if the circumstances apply, but my state has a state run or funded insurance program for people that can't get affordable insurance through normal policies.
 
It was 20 a month cheaper to drop full on the 01...but that's 180 every 6 months...adds up. Wow...some really good points here. Today especially, won't be hard for them to find out about her living at home and the thought that they could deny a claim based on me not telling them that sends chills up and down. Dang, 2K more...Holy cow.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by bmwpowere36m3
My parents bought me a car at 16, but made me get my own insurance policy.
How does someone under the age of 18 get a separate insurance policy, i.e. a contractual agreement between them and an insurance carrier ? Anyone under 18 normally can't enter into any sort of legal agreement.


I don't remember the specifics, but essentially the policy only covered me, as primary, for the single vehicle with liability. This was around 2000 and my parents owned/operated an indy garage. They didn't want risk losing dealer plates/coverage and/or assets in case of accident. On top which, they took out an umbrella policy. Maybe a little over the top, but they have been burned before and limit exposure to livelihood. Granted, at the time I was thrilled to be driving and have tons of freedom... but I had to work to pay for insurance, gas and cellphone.
 
My brother was quoted an extra $8k per year for his son who's 16. Full coverage on a 2014 Camry and in the northern VA area.
 
Insurance companies will look for any excuse to drop or not cover... having a teen driver unfortunately is expensive for a couple years. If I wanted a car, I needed a job to pay for insurance, gas, etc... so for them it wasn't much of a financial burden.
 
Originally Posted by Schmoe
It was 20 a month cheaper to drop full on the 01...but that's 180 every 6 months...adds up. Wow...some really good points here. Today especially, won't be hard for them to find out about her living at home and the thought that they could deny a claim based on me not telling them that sends chills up and down. Dang, 2K more...Holy cow.



that's because of collision they already know what they will pay out on your vehicle.with liability it can go to your insurance limits. check around with other companies or find an insurance broker to do it for you
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by bmwpowere36m3
My parents bought me a car at 16, but made me get my own insurance policy.
How does someone under the age of 18 get a separate insurance policy, i.e. a contractual agreement between them and an insurance carrier ? Anyone under 18 normally can't enter into any sort of legal agreement.


Technically it's not binding if the person is under 18. That means it's binding to the insurance company but not to the minor. In the case of the insurance company, I would think their exposure would be limited, they don't write the policy til they get the money so no need to sue to get their funds.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Probably not worth having full coverage on the '01 F150. Ask what the price reduction would be and make the call. It won't go down as much as you think, I can almost bet that. Liability is the highest coverage portion.



I'm surprised that's even an option. With my current carrier, I was told it would be a better option to "self insure" collision and comprehensive on my 2001 F350 and 2000 Jeep. Not that I would get collision and comp anyway, neither is worth much of anything.
 
My mom added me as a secondary driver to one of the cars under her own insurance when I started driving. It did raise her monthly payments a little bit but not as bad as it would have been if I was a primary driver or if I had my own policy.

Maybe a LEO can chime in on here but I would imagine if your friend's teenager got in a wreak and a police report was filed, her kid's name would be on the official police report as the driver.
 
Last edited:
Yes, as the driver, but she was just "borrowing" the car to go to the store kind of argument. But still, yeah, I can see how that could all get caught up. Now, adding her as secondary driver, that is something I hadn't thought about. When I take my daughter to school, I see a lot of kids driving, and cars nicer than my 06. This town is not a rich town by any stretch...or they are not insured.....egads.
 
Years ago, insurance companies weren't as picky with different cars and who the "drivers" were so if you and your agent played with assigning one person to multiple cars, splitting things up a bit, etc, they didn't care. Today, I don't think that happens anymore (at least this is the case with Erie). Before our son bought his own car, he was on our policy - we had (3) cars and (4) licensed drivers. They wouldn't allow me to be the "primary" driver on (2) of them, my wife the primary on (1). My agent asked which car I drove on a daily basis, which my wife drove, and then split the 3rd car between our two older kids.
 
Just remember Insurance companies do this as their main line of work. They probably know every trick in the book so be careful with this and tread lightly.
 
Originally Posted by Schmoe
Yes, as the driver, but she was just "borrowing" the car to go to the store kind of argument. But still, yeah, I can see how that could all get caught up. Now, adding her as secondary driver, that is something I hadn't thought about. When I take my daughter to school, I see a lot of kids driving, and cars nicer than my 06. This town is not a rich town by any stretch...or they are not insured.....egads.


Yeah, I'm not sure why you think she'd be covered on the car if she borrows it. In order to get coverage, everyone listed at the same address has to be on the policy. If she lives with you and is not on the policy, then she's not covered. She's only covered if she doesn't live with you. So if she borrows the car, she has no insurance if she lives with you and you don't put her on the policy. That's why you can let other people borrow the car without having them on your policy, but if they live with you, they need to be on the policy.
 
Back
Top