by roxannenm » Tue Oct 23, 2007 01:18 am
If my teenager lives with me and has permission to drive a vehicle, why do i have to put him on the policy as an additional driver? This will make premiums go higher.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 05:37 am Post Subject:
Why? Question... when you teenager runs into another vehicle are you going to pay for the others person's $10k loss yourself? I'm guessing you are going to ask your insurance company to address the other person's loss? It's only fair that you pay for the additional coverage/exposure.
Bottom line, teenage drives tend to create _huge_ additional risks for the insurance company. As such, the insurance company needs to collect a premium to address those possible (probable) losses.
Or did you mean to say that he "doesn't have permission".
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 06:41 am Post Subject:
Quite right tcope, you have sited just the right example. Hope it will clear the uncertainly from the poster's mind. True, inclusion of the teen will increase your auto premium. But buddy, I believe, life is worth more than dollars.
Over 50% of the total road mishaps in US involve the teen drivers. Therefore, the insurer takes a great deal of risk by insuring the young driver. Hence high premium…..got it :D
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 07:53 am Post Subject:
why do i have to put him on the policy as an additional driver?
Because, it is the right thing to do. It will keep him covered when he drives your car. Additionally, it will keep the worries off you.
If your son carries his driving license you can make him obtain his own policy. But it will be expensive too. On the other hand, including him in your policy will save some dollars for you. Ask your insurer, they often offer discounts for good grads. If your teen can manage good grads throughout the educational period, he may qualify for the discounts. Encourage him to take on a driving course. Successful completion of driving course may help in lowering his premium also.
But above everything, encourage him to drive sensibly.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:00 am Post Subject:
If my teenager lives with me and has permission to drive a vehicle, why do i have to put him on the policy as an additional driver? This will make premiums go higher.
I will go on the 'assumption' you meant to say, '''does not have permission to drive the vehicle'' Perhaps will help another even if not your case.You should be able to 'exclude' your son from your policy. HOWEVER, it is of HUGE importance he NEVER EVER drive the car, because there will be no coverage. Thus (maybe) leaving you with the bill.
Let us know if we can be of any other assistance, the other posters have clearly addressed the reason IF he drives your vehicle WHY you would and should pay the premium for his driving the vehicle. All I would add to that, is Why should you not have to pay like every other responsible parent has had too? :shock:
Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 08:58 am Post Subject:
A. With your permission, your son can drive the car and it will be covered by your insurance if he has a valid license. If there is an accident and people died, you will be liable for all damages over and above your insurance coverage limit and therefore there is great possibility that your assets, cash house etc. will be attached in a lawsuit and you may be totally wipeout financially.
With out his own policy, he may not drive his friends car...or drive in an emergency any others car..
Spare some money and buy him a seperate insurance coverage.. for your piece of mind...
Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 07:12 pm Post Subject:
Good friends of mine play the tough love card with their daughter, and boy has it paid off for them. "Mary" got her license at 16. She was added as an additional driver to her parents insurance, and paid them $80 a month for this "priviledge". When "Mary" turned 19 and transferred back home from her college dorm, her parents informed "Mary" that they would no longer allow her to be included on their policy. Since "Mary" had her own vehicle now, they wanted her to have her own policy. Begrudgingly "Mary" found a policy of her own through a national insurance co. She went from paying $80 a month to $218 a month (just for liability insurance!). Almost, exactly one year to the day of purchasing her new policy, "Mary" was in a severe accident. She was ejected from her vehicle, which was totaled, and underwent minor medical procedures. Incidentally, the accident was faulted to "Mary", though the other vehicle had hit her, and every member of the 5 person family that was in that vehicle, brought a lawsuit against "Mary" for sums "beyond her policy limits", for injuries sustained. "Mary" being on her own insurance policy, owning no property or assets, and owing quite a bit in student loans, was obviously not the best candidate to sue. When the plaintiffs lawyer found out about "Mary's" situation, he advised his clients to settle for what they could, knowing full well, that "Mary's" parents, though owning properties, cars, businesses, etc. could not legally or financially be held accountable AT ALL.
Though this story is long, Roxanne, it is 100% true, and "Mary" as well as her parents are very glad they went about getting "Mary" her own policy as they did. The additional cost in premium was $133 a month, yes, but it saved a house and a family. Think about that.
Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 05:38 am Post Subject: Post shifted......
Hi ButIAmResponsible, your post has been shifted to the following URL.
http://www.ampminsure.org/manage/about3359.html
Thanks,
Lakemen
Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 03:08 pm Post Subject:
The answer is yes and yes. Yes you do have to add him on to your policy, and yes the premiums are going to be higher. Why the higher premiums??? Well look at the response from tcope. That says it all. Lately though I have been suggesting to my clients that if they have a youthful driver in their home, and he or she wants to drive their vehicle, then he or she neeeds to pay for the extra premiums that the insurance company will charge. This has proven to be very effective for both parties. Not only does it keep the headache of extra premium off the parents, but it also gives the teens a better sense of responsibility. If they know how much more the extra insurance is costing, and its only uphill from there if they get a ticket or have an accident, I think they will be a little more consciencious when they are making decisions behind the wheel. Also as someone else mentioned, there are driving courses they can take to give them better rates. Ask your insurance agent about these courses
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 04:47 pm Post Subject:
Wow, Estreetloans
What a story and what a lesson, I think they were very smart to use the tough love, If the child is living at home, they have no other bills anyway right. Getting a job and paying bills is part of growing up. Why not start with car insurance as part of this process, I think it may make the teen think about what all goes along with this responsibility. May slow them down a bit.
But what if it is a car owned by the parent? The teen can only get a policy on a vehicle that is owned by the teen right? I can see you making the teen give you the premium each month for the increase, but as long as it is your policy, you are still responsible, legally and financially, right? Just curious.
Thanks for the lengthy story, made the issue much clearer to me. Please respond to the question I posted. thanks, look forward to your response.
Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:48 pm Post Subject:
A. With your permission, your son can drive the car and it will be covered by your insurance if he has a valid license. If there is an accident and people died, you will be liable for all damages over and above your insurance coverage limit and therefore there is great possibility that your assets, cash house etc. will be attached in a lawsuit and you may be totally wipeout financially.
With out his own policy, he may not drive his friends car...or drive in an emergency any others car..
Sorry angelking...almost, but not quite.
First off, I don't know of ANY carriers that will lend permissive use to a resident member of the household. Every carrier that I have dealt with (hundreds over the years) requires that "all members of the household, unless excluded by prior agreement, that carry driver's licenses be added to the policy, as well as those that will be using the vehicle regularly."
The carrier is entitled to the premium based on the risk and exposures presented by their insured. The "permissive use" doctrine that applies to most automobile insurance policies is intended to cover those persons who are NOT a member of the residence household for their occassional use of the insured vehicle.
Regarding your comment
With out his own policy, he may not drive his friends car...or drive in an emergency any others car..
not exactly right either.As he is not a member of his friend's household, assuming his friend has insurance that allows permissive use, he WOULD be able to drive his friend's car and he WOULD have coverage under the friend's auto policy if he drove the car with permission.
Certain high-risk contracts do NOT have permissive use language, and in order for ANYONE other than the insured to be covered, those other persons MUST be added to the policy.
Hope this clears certain areas up...
Finally, it's not only "death" that could cause heavy financial hardship. There's a quote that goes like this: "Disability can oftentimes be more devastating than death." The premise is obvious. Serious injury caused by a driver can be just as bad financially as death, and at times worse.
Good luck with this!
InsTeacher 8)
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