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In a conversation I had with our agent several years ago, he said young drivers are young drivers and insurance companies were reducing or eliminating the rate differences between girls and boys.
Do they have permits or licenses. Our insurer told us they didn't write them on the policy while they were still driving with their permit. We told our insurance the boys were in drivers ed. We had many friends who did not. We would not have considered having them drive with a license without being on the policy. IMHO, it's not worth the risk.In our case, the Ins co already know about them. I thought it was great that our agent had them both go and visit with him when we put them on the policy.
Some of the best advice our agent gave our sons, as often as you can, try and park when you can pull forward. Backing up in parking lots is a very common way to get into a fender bender. And yes it did happen.
The gap is getting smaller but it is still there.
As for "covering" your teens, they are covered as long as you give them permission to drive your car, plain and simple. Having them LISTED on your insurance is a different thing. Anyone you give permission to to drive your car is covered under YOUR car insurance--which is why you don't let anyone drive your car . What can, and will, happen if you don't pay the rates to have a teen driver in your house (listing them on your policy) is if they have an accident or otherwise need to file a claim, you can and will be dropped from your insurance coverage. Just not worth the risk. Their datebases scan new licenses daily so getting "caught" happens pretty quickly. In our state, however, you don't NEED to, by law, add a teen driver until the renewal after they get their license. So, if you have a 12 month policy that renews On Feb 1st and your teen doesn't get their license until Feb 2nd, you don't have to add them until Feb 1st of the following year. Something nice to know if your state is the same .
Thanks everyone for the advice. When we get there I will just add him to the old car. What surprised me even further is a lot of kids here have no interest in getting their license. Even my son doesn't seem all that excited about it. He voiced concerns over getting into an accident and not feeling very confident about the idea. He is not a risk taker so him acting stupid driving a car isn't going to happen. Sometimes I think he is an old man trapped in a teens body. lol. I am encouraging him because I dont want fear to keep him from trying something.
As far as the good grades discount, I have an issue with it. I was an average student in high school and the couple of friends I had that were honor roll were the most crazy in their cars. My son has two friends that are honor roll, they are the most immature ones in the bunch. Their parents wont even consider driving training for them yet due to how wild they can be. I just dont find because one is book smart means they also have good common sense.
Well anyway, the first step is paying the 400 dollar fee for drivers ed. Ugh.
Thanks everyone for the advice. When we get there I will just add him to the old car. What surprised me even further is a lot of kids here have no interest in getting their license. Even my son doesn't seem all that excited about it. He voiced concerns over getting into an accident and not feeling very confident about the idea. He is not a risk taker so him acting stupid driving a car isn't going to happen. Sometimes I think he is an old man trapped in a teens body. lol. I am encouraging him because I dont want fear to keep him from trying something.
As far as the good grades discount, I have an issue with it. I was an average student in high school and the couple of friends I had that were honor roll were the most crazy in their cars. My son has two friends that are honor roll, they are the most immature ones in the bunch. Their parents wont even consider driving training for them yet due to how wild they can be. I just dont find because one is book smart means they also have good common sense.
Well anyway, the first step is paying the 400 dollar fee for drivers ed. Ugh.
It's not about being "smart" it's about effort, consistency etc. A "B" average is not overly difficult - even for average students (I had a couple of those). Most kids who care enough, can attain a "B" average.
And of course it is no guarantee but insurance rates are based on statistics, not on individuals.
As far as the good grades discount, I have an issue with it. I was an average student in high school and the couple of friends I had that were honor roll were the most crazy in their cars. My son has two friends that are honor roll, they are the most immature ones in the bunch. Their parents wont even consider driving training for them yet due to how wild they can be. I just dont find because one is book smart means they also have good common sense.
Well, you can have issue with it, but the insurance companies are giving the discount for whatever reasons they have chosen to do so. As maciesmom said, they only have to maintain a "B" average to get the discount, so I would hope that for most kids wanting to do reasonably well that this would be the least they would want to get anyway.
Any responsible parent should know if their child is ready or not and will take it seriously. There is no magic when they turn 16 and some are absolutely not ready or responsible enough. It sounds like your son is.
With Allstate, once they've had 3 years of driving with no accidents or tickets, the "inexperienced driver" surcharge comes off. Don't know if other insurance companies do that or not. I do know that with Allstate taking Driver's Ed did not lower our rates - (although our son did it anyway) - it was taking whatever online course they suggest. That is where the big discount, and the good student discount, really helped.
Thanks everyone for the advice. When we get there I will just add him to the old car. What surprised me even further is a lot of kids here have no interest in getting their license. Even my son doesn't seem all that excited about it. He voiced concerns over getting into an accident and not feeling very confident about the idea. He is not a risk taker so him acting stupid driving a car isn't going to happen. Sometimes I think he is an old man trapped in a teens body. lol. I am encouraging him because I dont want fear to keep him from trying something.
As far as the good grades discount, I have an issue with it. I was an average student in high school and the couple of friends I had that were honor roll were the most crazy in their cars. My son has two friends that are honor roll, they are the most immature ones in the bunch. Their parents wont even consider driving training for them yet due to how wild they can be. I just dont find because one is book smart means they also have good common sense.
Well anyway, the first step is paying the 400 dollar fee for drivers ed. Ugh.
Small random samples are meaningless however. The actuaries study years and years worth of results. I would say that among our kids' friends, all of them are very responsible and mature, they are all also top students in the class. My sample off-sets your sample .
As for kids being reluctant to get their license, yes, that seems to be pretty common. Our parents didn't schlep us around town like we do with our kids so they don't feel the need to get a license like we did.
Thanks everyone for the advice. When we get there I will just add him to the old car. What surprised me even further is a lot of kids here have no interest in getting their license. Even my son doesn't seem all that excited about it. He voiced concerns over getting into an accident and not feeling very confident about the idea. He is not a risk taker so him acting stupid driving a car isn't going to happen. Sometimes I think he is an old man trapped in a teens body. lol. I am encouraging him because I dont want fear to keep him from trying something.
As far as the good grades discount, I have an issue with it. I was an average student in high school and the couple of friends I had that were honor roll were the most crazy in their cars. My son has two friends that are honor roll, they are the most immature ones in the bunch. Their parents wont even consider driving training for them yet due to how wild they can be. I just dont find because one is book smart means they also have good common sense.
Well anyway, the first step is paying the 400 dollar fee for drivers ed. Ugh.
It is good that your son is cautious about driving. I am the parent of two teenagers who are like old men in teen form.
It doesn't really matter whether you have an issue with the good grades discount or not. Many insurance companies offer them and if your child qualifies for it you should accept it. Why would you pay the insurance thieves any more than you need to pay?
I have lived through the first two of my kids getting drivers licenses. Insurance for boys is crazy expensive (as you have discovered) but I find that worrying about them is worse than the extra costs.
Insurance policies contain different language. THis is why you are getting so many differnet answers. INsurnace language for coverage of kids is nto dictated by law (in most states) it is a matter of what you contract for. Some say any person in your houshold over the age of 16 is an excluded dirver unless they are specifically listed. Some say anyone you give permission to drive your car is covered. Some allow the insurance company to increase your rates automatically when you have a kid who turns 16, even if they do not get a license. Some specifically name the kids in the household as excluded dirvers (you have to pay to get them un-excluded). It all depends on the language of our policy. An insurnace policy is a contract, and unless it is specifically prohibited by law, you can your insurance company can agree to the terms you choose (as long as the coverage meets the statutory requriements.
Thus, the answer is simple. Read your policy. If you do not find the answer you need, ask your broker. but remember anything your broker tells you is meaningless unless it is written down and signed by an agent of the insurance company authorized to bind the company.
My son turned 16 and we are now looking at the costs (and worries) of him driving. I called my insurance company to find out what we are looking at once he starts drivers ed and getting his license. I was told our insurance is going to double on our old car that has PLPD (which really stinks because it will be just as much as our brand new car with full coverage). She said she would figure out how much it would be if we wanted to add him where he could drive our new car. I opted to just go with the older car figures. I then asked if it would be best if we gave him our old car, that would be his and then we would get another car. My insurance agent said its actually best if we dont do that because then we would be looking at even more of a high rate cost if he had his own car. It's cheaper if we just add him as an occasional driver to one car. She offered some discount options such as him taking an addition course on road safety, good report cards (never understood this reasoning, like kids with good grades are better drivers ). So I thanked her for the info and have been thinking on what is the best option.
I have 3 friends that have teenagers that just started driving. I asked them how they were doing with the higher cost. All of them said they haven't notified their insurance companies and won't until they get caught. One has already given her son a car which they insured and the other two just let their teens drive whatever car is available. They told me its easy and the best solution. There are certain organizations I dont mess with in my life, the IRS and insurance companies. I decided to google not claiming a teen driver and found a lot of interesting articles. One went into great detail that an insurance company can decide not to cover an accident after they find out a teen in the household was never added to the policy, also it gave a state breakdown where these specific states have a law that backs insurance companies in situations like this. My state was listed. Its not a risk I am willing to take. Im just wondering how other parents are dealing with this new milestone. Did you feel it was better to get your teen their own car? Or did you wait because it was cheaper to have him as an occasional driver?
When I was a teenager, I was given a junk car by my uncle and I had my own insurance. It cost me 60 dollars a month and I had a part time job that allowed me to pay for it and still have some cash in my pocket. I cant see that happening now, what she quoted me my son would need a full time job to pay for the insurance cost if he was on the policy alone.
I live in the most expensive state to insure a car. I also have a teen driver, albeit one "away" at college. Since her school is less than 100 miles away she was considered a commuter (I cannot imagine 100 mile commute daily for a teen but whatever) and my old insurance (the one with the cute lizard) decided to double the insurance on my brand new car even though she had her own beater and would never drive my car. Crazy
So I went to that company that lets you name your price. They have a weekender policy for college kids, plus they have that little gizmo you plug into your car and my insurance went down $700 month for better coverage including my teen.
Well anyway, the first step is paying the 400 dollar fee for drivers ed. Ugh.
Some states allow "home school" drivers ed and it costs $20 to apply for that but there are also on-line courses with all the reading materials and examinations and logs to record hours parents spend teaching and driving time.
The following states have specifically approved NDTI’s parent-taught driver’s education course: Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.
Many more states do not require any specific requirements for driver education, leaving parents free to choose between commercial driver education schools, public schools, or parent-taught driver education courses. As of October 2006, these states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Information sources at the end of this article can be checked to find out the laws in your state.
In October 2000, the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs conducted a research project on the effectiveness of parent taught driver training. The survey population consisted of teens that had completed the National Driver Training Institute’s parent-taught driver education program.
The statistics showed that parent-taught driver training saves lives!
For example, according to insurance company statistics, out of every 100 teen drivers:
•37 will be ticketed for speeding,
•28 will be involved in accidents,
•13 will be injured in an automobile accident,
•4 will be ticketed for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and
•1 will be killed in an automobile accident.
On the other hand, according to the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs survey, for every 100 students using NDTI’s parent taught driver education program:
•8 were ticketed for speeding,
•8 were involved in accidents,
•6 were injured in automobile accidents,
•1 was ticketed for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and
•there were no fatalities.
Here in Delaware Driver's Ed is a mandatory course in our public high school. Once a student satisfactorily completes the driving portion of the course they get a slip to take to DMV for their permit. Once they get the permit they must be accompanied by a parent for six months with limited passengers in the car.Our insurance company did not require him to be on the policy until he had completed the six months and got his "real" license. We are asked to name EVERY licensed driver in our household. I think it would be a really bad idea to lie to the insurance company to save a "few" bucks." We have 3 used vehicles. My son's vehicle is 2/3 the cost of our monthly premium. We have our own "good student" discount. As long as he maintains a 3.0 average we pay the insurance.
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. What can, and will, happen if you don't pay the rates to have a teen driver in your house (listing them on your policy) is if they have an accident or otherwise need to file a claim, you can and will be dropped from your insurance coverage. Just not worth the risk. Their datebases scan new licenses daily so getting "caught" happens pretty quickly. In our state, however, you don't NEED to, by law, add a teen driver until the renewal after they get their license. So, if you have a 12 month policy that renews On Feb 1st and your teen doesn't get their license until Feb 2nd, you don't have to add them until Feb 1st of the following year. Something nice to know if your state is the same 
). So I thanked her for the info and have been thinking on what is the best option.
