Car Insurance question

17 years ago

Was just wondering if anyone could answer this. I plan to call my insurance company later this week but would kinda like to know now. Alex called his father last night to ask about getting one of his vehicles. He is planning on getting his driver's license soon. He said his father is going to keep the car in his name and he will pay his father back for the insurance costs.

I don't think they are going to put Alex on as the main driver of the car. Will he be covered if he gets in an accident? Or is it just like loaning your car to a friend for an extended time? I had asked my insurance company last year if I had to put him on mine while he was learning to drive and they told me at that time, no, not until he got his license. If he isn't going to drive my car, do I still have to put him on my insurance if he isn't going to drive my car, even though he will be living in my house? I know this probably differs from state to state but was wondering what you all thought and what did you do with your teens?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

cynic
17 years ago
You need to check with the state's insurance commissioner or your agent to be sure because yes, it varies from state to state. I can tell you that in Minnesota, I'm covered on anyones's car I drive and anyone is covered on my insurance assuming they have permission to drive it. However, assigning a car to a young driver brings in other issues. Essentially you're defrauding the insurance company and could have problems if they find out. Since he's the primary driver of the vehicle they should know about it. If you have young drivers in the house, your insurance rates go up since you're on assigned risk insurance, and it doesn't matter if the kid drives the vehicle or not because the company assumes if there's a car there, they'll drive it eventually.

There's also the issue that the father will be responsible if Alex loans the car to someone, or for that matter if the car gets taken and used for, say a robbery, guess who they go after? Plus there's the liability issue if Alex gets into an accident since there's another assumed deep pocket (dad).

As you said, until he gets his license they won't really care since legally he has to be with a licensed driver and usually that will be a parent. There's always kids that steal parents' cars but that's small potatoes in the grand scheme of insurance. In MN, having him in your house will raise your rates, especially when he gets his license.

I know this isn't much help but definitely check into the rules in your state. Insurance companies are getting very sticky on the regulations these days. I just got into some trouble with my insurance company when I bought another vehicle and put it in the garage - not driving it and didn't tell them. Didn't see any reason to tell them since I wasn't driving it and it was in storage. But I got a lecture. They were quite upset. I thought it was none of their business, but....

Ah, getting the license and first driving experiences! What fond memories!
nodakgal
17 years ago
Here you must list new drivers in your household immediately. Our insurance agent said if you dont and heaven forbid he is in an accident, whether its his fault or not the insurance company will go back to when he got his license and bill you for the coverage. I don't know if that is actually true or not.
Here they do give a small discount if your teen is on the honor roll. I guess they figure they are less likely to get in trouble? Also a discount for taking Defensive Drivers course is given too.
As far as being the main driver I am not sure. Our teens were on the policy and were able to drive any of our vehicles with no problems. I don't think they were listed as a "main" driver of any one of them even tho they had their "own" vehicles. Somehow I am thinking its the car itself that is insured for anyone, but of course you pay extra for a teen driver too! LOL
You should have him listed as an occasional driver though at least.
And just a word to the wise, make sure your ex actually HAS the insurance on the other car! I'd hate for Alex to get in trouble for no insurance.
Related Discussions
Beginning Car/ Car Insurance questions.
Q
Comments (8)
Your best bet in a used car will be a well-maintained American car. I don't want to get into the U.S./rest of the world "discussion" being held on other threads. I'll just say that proper maintenance has more to do with a car's trouble-free operation than where it is made. Right now, there are some decent American cars out there, but perception has not caught up with the reality, so American cars suffer more depreciation than many foreign cars. As a buyer of a used car, you can take advantage of that. Some of the cars you might want to look at include the Ford Taurus, or just anything midsize or larger from GM. I'm guessing that, since you got to the age of 16 without being a "gearhead," you mostly want a comfortable, reliable car. These will do the job. They shouldn't cost a fortune for insurance, either. Mikie is right -- even if you're paying for your own insurance, it will be cheaper to piggyback on your parents' policy than it will be for you to go solo. Ask about discounts if you get good grades in school or are willing to drive only a certain number of miles per month, etc. Finally, what else I wish I'd known about cars at your age? Having a car is a joy and a privilege -- and a responsibility. As a teenager, you have the benefit of quick reflexes and (I hope) formal training. You can be an excellent driver. But there's no substitute for experience -- especially at night in the rain and on icy roads. I knew how to steer out of a skid -- until the first time I found myself in one and narrowly missed a fence as I spun into a farmer's field. It's different when it really happens. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you're immortal (every teenager thinks so; so did I). You're in control of almost two tons of metal and glass and plastic, so be careful. When I was 16, nobody had cell phones and we were lucky if the car had an FM radio, nevermind multi-channel stereo systems and iPod links and the like. I know teenagers are better at multi-tasking than they used to be, but you still have one primary task in a car -- driving. Don't be distracted by fiddling with the stereo or talking with friends. It's okay to concentrate on driving. Professional auto racers do. Have fun! Getting my first car was a blast. I hope you find one you really like and have many happy miles with it.
...See More
buying a car whilst on holiday and insuring it
Q
Comments (10)
Hello, I'm surprised you haven't gotten more responses to your thread. Perhaps its because yours is a rather unusual request, however if I were doing the same thing in England I guess I would have the same type questions. As to registering the car, yes you will need an address, in this case where ever you are going to live in Ark. When you get here, contact your state motor vehicle dept. for forms and exactly what you need to do. Also ask if your UK drivers license is ok to use here. The phone no. can be found in your local phone book. As to buying it, decide on what you want and then shop around till you get the best price. Vistech had good advice about insurance though any insurance company would be able to help in that area. Again call some local insurance agents for advice and be sure to shop for prices. To get more responses, ask what kind of car to buy, you'll probably get more responses than you really want. Good luck, have a plesant stay and don't forget to drive on the right side of the road. Later Skag
...See More
Car insurance question
Q
Comments (2)
The holder of the car loan will probably require that full coverage insurance be maintained, whether anyone plans to drive the car or not. They are concerned not only with the possibility of damage to the car, but also liability that could go back to them if they permit a car that they own (since they have the title) to be potentially operated on the road without insurance. Many cars that aren't supposed to be driven are taken out "just once," and once is all it takes to get into an accident. The best thing I can think of to do would be to park the car where you know where it is, and change the insurance on it to a "limited mileage" plan, if your company offers it. With State Farm, there can be a substantial discount if you are going to drive less than 7,500 miles a year. One other possibility that would be an option if you have some other car that you do own free and clear would be to drop the insurance on that car (assuming you can park it in a garage where it would be unlikely to be stolen or damaged) and drive your son's car for the year that he won't be using it.
...See More
Car insurance --need advice (grrr!) (long!)
Q
Comments (15)
Ahhhhh....deep breath. Thank you all for your wisdom and replies! I'm going to look into the companies you suggested as we still have time to change before our old coverage expires. Now that I'm calmer (!), I think I wouldn't have hit the ceiling if yesterday's email from Esurance had included a statement like: "Please note: if this vehicle was purchased within the past XX days, please confirm that the registration has been updated to reflect your ownership" or something to that effect. I simply opened the email and was blasted with the notice that they'd found something that we'd apparently hid from them, and my interpretation of that was that it was slamming our ethics. I'm not saying that very well, but you get my drift. I also find it terribly creepy that they put the full name of a stranger in our email. When we purchased the truck last week from a long-standing reputable dealer, never in any paperwork was the previous owner's name listed. Frankly, we're buying a used truck, and the previous owner's name is none of our business. So that email on top of the previous one that claimed we'd provided inaccurate information about a gap in our coverage on top of our current insurance agent's genial incompetence on several occasions (not that his incompetence had anything to do with Esurance!) was enough to send me around the bend. We have excellent credit and a clean driving record other than a deer hit at the end of 2009 (the deer hit last fall didn't count against us since no insurance was paid out) so this should be SO simple. Thank you all again. I'm off to do some internet research! You guys are the best!
...See More
grinch_gut
17 years ago
Here we have to list all drivers in the house but on all of our cars it excludes Sydney as a driver. If not if we insured her to drive our cars I would hate to see what the cost would be!!! I would just call and see....Stacy
linda_in_iowa
17 years ago
If Alex is never, ever going to drive your car, you can sign an exclusion. That means if he ever did drive your car he would not be covered by insurance.
If his dad is going to give him a car to drive, he must be listed as the primary driver.
Kathsgrdn
Original Author
17 years ago
Alex is not being given the car, the title will remain in his father's name. He is now arguing with me about it. Teenage boys know everything, don't they?

I didn't know about the exclusion thing, but I'll ask my insurance.
monica_pa Grieves
17 years ago
In both NJ and PA, if you have a licensed driver living in your home...and they don't own a vehicle in their name..they are assumed by your insurance company to be an occasional driver of your car.

If this is true in your state, then his father pays insurance based on his ownership (adult driver only), and your premium is based on assumption that a minor male (high rates) will be driving your car.

If you are already paying extra because of Alex, then your premiums will probably stay the same.
Terri_PacNW
17 years ago
In WA state, you can't even put a vehicle into a "kids" name until 18. You do have to list them as a legal driver once they get their drivers license..my kids been "on" our insurance since the day he got his permit. But it doesn't cost anything extra for them until they are actually licensed. Then you must notify the insurance and make a BIG payment!
To touch on the vein Monica is going..I would think that if Dad is the "owner" then he needs to be insured on Dad's insurance. But maybe there is a way around that.

Our son when finally driving will be driving one of our vehicles. When he is 18 we MAY put it in his name. MAY...
susanjf_gw
17 years ago
even if you could put a car in your ds's name HE couldn't afford the insurance...in fact, the ins co's are so paranoid about male drivers, it isn't til after the age of 25 they barely get a break...my boys finally got decent rates, when they got married!

most likely dad, if he's smart, will get the car placed on his existing policy and get a slight discount for multiple car ins. isn't that ironic? have a single car and have to pay more...

you really can't he'll never drive your car as well, either...in case of emergency and he was the only driver, there you go...
Marigene
17 years ago
As long as he is a licensed driver, and has permission to drive the car, he is insured under the car owner's policy, unless he has been specifically listed as an excluded driver. If he is the titled owner of the car, he needs to purchase his own policy.
kathyg_in_mi
17 years ago
We had 4 kids and at one time we had 6 cars. We did get a family rate and our agent got us a "fleet" rate! 3 of those young drivers were boys and we really paid for it, boys are so much more expensive than girls.
BUT, DH was looking at our policy one day after all kids gone and we're retired and noticed the policy listed his name, but not his driver's license #. Boy, did our costs drop when they put in the correct #. And boy, did our one sons insurance rates jump when he lost his dad's license #!
You all ways need to check over your policies every time you get a renewal, ya never know!
Kathy G in mi
grammahony
17 years ago
I never had to inform the insurance company of my kids turning 16. They seemed to know, and up the premium at that time. Because they had access to my car. Permission or not.
Leslie

Car Insurance question

Comments (11)

cynic

nodakgal

Related Discussions

grinch_gut

linda_in_iowa

Kathsgrdn
Original Author

monica_pa Grieves

Terri_PacNW

susanjf_gw

Marigene

kathyg_in_mi

grammahony

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Car Insurance question

Comments (11)

Related Discussions

KathsgrdnOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Kathsgrdn
Original Author