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NFT: Car Insurance for your teenager

PA Giant Fan : 4/21/2017 3:16 pm
Not there yet but getting closer and starting to look at cars and think about insurance. Do you add them to your current insurance? Get them their own insurance? Increase your liability levels?

Curious as to what you guys are doing and what costs you are experiencing
Do you live in NJ?  
Giant John : 4/21/2017 3:24 pm : link
NJ currently has the highest premium of any state. Or, at least they did about a year ago, In NJ as soon as there is a licensed driver living in your home and they carry no insurance of their own they must be added to your liability policy as a driver. So the day little Johnny gets his license you're going to owe thousands to your insurance company. I have informed my 13 year old twins they will not be getting their drivers license on their 17th birthday.
yes you will need higher liability limits. Good luck!
You can always ask your insurance agent too  
Giant John : 4/21/2017 3:24 pm : link
.
Had two teenage (female) drivers  
Frank in Silver Spring : 4/21/2017 3:45 pm : link
Easier to sell them both and treat yourself to a nice new car (kidding, sort of...).
As a father I'm not there yet, daughter is only 4  
j_rud : 4/21/2017 3:50 pm : link
but when I was a teenager my dad added me to his policy but I had to pay the rate increase. It wasn't an issue of need from his perspective, but he grew up poor and believed strongly in my brother and I earning our own way. I can't lie, I was a little resentful at the time, but like with a lot of the things he did when I was young, I get it now.
RE: Do you live in NJ?  
DennyInDenville : 4/21/2017 3:55 pm : link
In comment 13437671 Giant John said:
Quote:
NJ currently has the highest premium of any state. Or, at least they did about a year ago, In NJ as soon as there is a licensed driver living in your home and they carry no insurance of their own they must be added to your liability policy as a driver. So the day little Johnny gets his license you're going to owe thousands to your insurance company. I have informed my 13 year old twins they will not be getting their drivers license on their 17th birthday.
yes you will need higher liability limits. Good luck!

Huge mistake let them get there license

Don't want them relying on friends to drive them
I'm in NY  
Tom from LI : 4/21/2017 4:02 pm : link
my 4 sons are all on my policy... their ages? 18, 21, 22, 25...

My annual car insurance just tipped 20G a year... still cheaper than sending them to a non state school..

Here is the funny thing.. I checked the cost of the same exact insurance in North Carolina and it was 4G a year...

We are looking to relocate once I secure a job there but I might look into buying the house and moving them all there with the cars now.. the difference would pay the mortgage.. at least I would put the $$ to something I would eventually own..

Car insurance is the biggest scam out there..
I think the key is to expect trouble...  
Dan in the Springs : 4/21/2017 4:06 pm : link
and plan accordingly. I know most won't agree with my plans because their kids want to drive nicer, newer cars and they accommodate those wishes.

I bought old pickups on auction for my kids to drive. It helps that we live in a farming community, so pickups are driven by kids all the time. Having said that, ours are all old and ugly.

I increase my liability insurance and drop the deductible a little, then drop any comp/collision on the vehicles they are named as primary drivers.

The reason I like older pickups is that they are terrible on gas and forcing them to pay for their own gas helps them reduce the amount of driving. They also can take a few dents here and there and keep going. Also, I was able to find some at auction on the cheap. I bought one from the city for $300, one from the state Department of Transportation for $2400, and am putting in a bid now for another from the city for $2000. These pickups have been the primary drivers of my teenagers over the last 8 years and the coverage on them is ridiculously low. I'm in Idaho, so that helps, but we pay something like $12-15/month for those vehicles.

They've been hard on them, but at those prices who cares?
I had to get my own policy  
mrvax : 4/21/2017 4:12 pm : link
at 18 in NY. I paid State Farm $800/year back then.

From folks I've spoke with recently, inquire about and get prices for an "umbrella" policy which should cover your entire family, including car insurance.

I plan to get something that she can drive for awhile  
PA Giant Fan : 4/21/2017 4:15 pm : link
With minimal maintenance. $4-6k. She can take to college eventually if she gets there. Some make their kids get their own insurance and some add to theirs. Pluses and minues to both usually.

20k a year. thats crazy
I think my parents added me briefly  
PA Giant Fan : 4/21/2017 4:17 pm : link
I was in the military not too much later and on my own. Not sure what they did with my sisters. I am guessing they simply added. No idea what they paid. 17 years ago so probably not relavant anyway
Review once he/she enters college  
njm : 4/21/2017 5:01 pm : link
Got a car my sophomore year and was not going to school in New Jersey. The rates were so much cheaper that it was cheaper to have the car in my name and pay insurance on my own policy (it was my financial responsibility under any arrangement) than stay on my parents policy.

Don't know what the rates are in Pa, but in NJ they're usurious.
RE: As a father I'm not there yet, daughter is only 4  
UConn4523 : 4/21/2017 6:21 pm : link
In comment 13437727 j_rud said:
Quote:
but when I was a teenager my dad added me to his policy but I had to pay the rate increase. It wasn't an issue of need from his perspective, but he grew up poor and believed strongly in my brother and I earning our own way. I can't lie, I was a little resentful at the time, but like with a lot of the things he did when I was young, I get it now.


TRhats how it should be. Unless the kid has full time after school activities they should otherwise get a job to pay for their insurance, at the very least.

I actually enjoyed that, wasn't mad at my parents for not paying.
When I got my first car (20 years ago)  
BlackLight : 4/21/2017 6:23 pm : link
My parents bought a new policy, just for me. The way it was explained to me was, if I was in an accident and somebody else got killed, and I was on my parent's policy, the family could come after them for everything they had.
I worked in highschool  
Steve in South Jersey : 4/21/2017 6:33 pm : link
bought a car with my own money and paid my own insurance.
RE: I worked in highschool  
Tuckrule : 4/21/2017 7:46 pm : link
In comment 13437920 Steve in South Jersey said:
Quote:
bought a car with my own money and paid my own insurance.


Can I pat you on the back or you want to take care of that yourself.
RE: I worked in highschool  
section125 : 4/21/2017 8:15 pm : link
In comment 13437920 Steve in South Jersey said:
Quote:
bought a car with my own money and paid my own insurance.


That is exactly what I did. Bought an old clunker and then got the least legal amount of insurance I could get.
My parents paid my car insurance till I was 30  
DennyInDenville : 4/21/2017 8:16 pm : link
.
Denny  
Giant John : 4/21/2017 8:20 pm : link
I disagree. Even with their own license they will be in cars with friends driving. Can't be avoided.
not sure about other states  
SHO'NUFF : 4/22/2017 7:40 am : link
but this is what I would do:

1. Make sure your kids gets his/her license right away to start accumulating years experienced as a driver. Even if they won't drive. The more years you have under your belt the cheaper.

2. Depending on the number of cars to drivers, you will have to play around with different quotes. #cars < #drivers: add your kid as a part time operator on your oldest car (or rather, lowest rated). Consider covering that vehicle for liability only.

#cars >/= #drivers: you'll have to add your kid as a primary operator, but again, put him/her on the lowest rated vehicle, preferably liability coverage only. Try to give them the lowest projected annual mileage possible and for pleasure use. Take advantage of and good student or other discounts.

1 car and 2 drivers, it might be to your advantage to buy an old beater, liability only, low mileage annually. The multi-car discount might absorb a lot of the increase to add your new driver.

I'm not an insurance agent, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn.
Since the children  
Bubba : 4/22/2017 7:48 am : link
are dependents the liability will fall back to you whether or not they own the car with their own insurance. If sued as a result of an accident attorneys will pursue the deep pockets. Therefore you may as well add them to your policy and get the multi car discount. Absolutely increase your limits to the max. (should do that regardless). The premium difference between limits is not that great. It will be painful for a while but you'll get through it like most of us did.
Cheaper to have multi-car/multi-policy discounts  
SHO'NUFF : 4/22/2017 8:03 am : link
so definitely do not put your kid on his/her own. Have enough liability coverage, don't worry about getting sued. Raise deductibles, but preferably, on an older vehicle, get rid of comp/collision altogether. (Comp might be cheap to have, in case of theft or windshield damage - get quote).

To expand on my first point, you can choose to exclude your kid, meaning he/she absolutely will not be covered if he/she drives your vehicles. But during that time, make sure your kid is still licensed to accumulate years experienced, so when he/she is ready to drive down the road, it will be cheaper. It doesn't matter if your 16 or 45...a rookie is still a rookie.
My son goes to a college exactly 3 miles too close to be considered  
BlueHurricane : 4/22/2017 8:45 am : link
Not living at my house. School is an hour and a half away on a good day. I would save a ton of money if he was that small distance further. NJ auto insurance sucks. Actually NJ pretty much sucks. We have been looking to get out of this state.
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