Son just got license, Wow! $1300 a year insurance increase, liability only...

[Cujet]

When I was a teen driver, I (supposedly) got in one accident, as my entire family expected, with my Father's 1967 Mustang. The car needed to be towed home, front tires aiming two different directions. That was my first and only teen accident, er, ah, well...

Unfortunately, I could not tell my father, I loaned the car to my friend Jim, and he was the one who crashed it, while street racing I always wondered why my parents did not notice that I was completely uninjured. They never even asked if I was OK.

What I did was incredibly stupid, and it cost me a fortune to replace all those suspension components, fender and bumper. Dad always made sure to let me know the car was never the same after that...

But I took pride in the fact that my driving skill (or pure dumb luck) was good enough to keep me out of harms way.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

High income level and/or high tolerance for monthly payments?

I could see how some dual income white collar households could do it. Wish I was one of them!

Not bragging, but I'd say most of the US Population would classify my household as fitting in this 'category'.

I see 2008 coming like an out-of-control train all over again. In 2006, I was asking acquaintances how people were affording all the crap they had. I was constantly being told "people make a lot of money!!"..... yeah, until they didn't all of the sudden.

I can run a $5 $8.50 calculator from WalMart and I know what things cost. I think a lot of people that think "high income level" people are paying for all this stuff is really people that are stretched to the max, in GOOD times. I know because I ask people - like my insurance agent, people at the credit union, etc. No, I'm not asking what certain people make or their business, but certain phrases yield certain bits of info from these people, letting me know that the grass isn't greener. It's highly financed.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

I know things have changed tremendously since I was a new driver 48 years ago, but I worked during high school. My grand daughters are new drivers and they have part time jobs in high school. One of them graduated high school early, and on the national honor society. It's still very doable without sacrificing learning. Many parents I run into now-a-day seem to think that scholastics and/or sports earn a free ride for their kids. I don't get it, but I am VERY old school. And, as stated above, affluent people don't have to be concerned about all this.

GEEZ , I hate sounding like an old man, LOL.

Ok, so there's two of us in the club!

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

I live in affluent area and the price point is about $20k-$30k for used or new (Jetta) nice vehicle for your teen or even one case teens.

Parents make a few hundred thousand to million per year. I do know a few parents though I that income range buying the kid the ugly beige 2010 Accord base model as first car too. But still a $7k spend there.

I live in a pretty affluent area and my own household income is at the level of what many of the screaming mad activists categorize as one they hate. I grew up pretty much dirt poor, mommy and daddy didn't pay for a car, insurance nor a college education. I got here by not wanting to be poor.

I know what all this stuff costs. A $450,000 household income gets eat up in a hurry with a house payment, HELOC, 3-4 car lease payments, insurance, pool service, lawn service, home repairs, clothing credit card bills, internet, streaming, cell phone, utilities, gym/chiro/etc monthly payments, golf/tennis club memberships, $250+ weekly spends by 2 teenager/college kids, tuition, health insurance co-pays, eating out, groceries, delivery for this and that, quarterly home decorating change-out, weekly home cleaning service, etc.

My point - These kids running around in $40-50k cars/4-door jeeps/etc., are burdening the parents with a $650-900/month payment, $500+ month in fuel and $4-500 month in insurance. THAT Adds up and no "few hundred thousand to million per year" absorbs that easily.

 

[nickaluch]

I never added my kids to my policy never any issues just would buy a car couple years old and add the car to the policy full coverage. But non ever got in to a accident or moving violations. My two oldest girls live in NYC no car's now my little one off to college with a car.

 

[nickaluch]

That's typically not how it works. If the teen lives in the same household and isn't on the policy, if the teen gets into an accident, the teen isn't covered. Comprehensive is different from collision. Only way around that is to swap cars with someone else. Knew a guy who used to get speeding tickets all the time, he didn't care because he drove his girlfriends car and they were at separate addresses so he wasn't on the policy.

This confused me the speeding ticket is written to the driver not the car . If he got speeding ticket all the time eventually points catch up with you and your license is suspended

 

[Wolf359]

This confused me the speeding ticket is written to the driver not the car . If he got speeding ticket all the time eventually points catch up with you and your license is suspended

Right, but the insurance is to the car. Your rates also go up for insurance if you get lots of speeding tickets. But if the car you drive doesn't have insurance in your name, doesn't matter how many speeding tickets you have, the insurance stays the same. And yes, if you get enough, it gets suspended, but I think you need like 3 a year to get suspended. Don't know how many he accumulated but I haven't gotten a ticket in probably 10+ years, can't remember the last time I got one.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Has someone got a couple of tickets you may not know about?

 

[JTK]

I never added my kids to my policy never any issues just would buy a car couple years old and add the car to the policy full coverage. But non ever got in to a accident or moving violations. My two oldest girls live in NYC no car's now my little one off to college with a car.

I did the same thing with my daughter. Bought, registered and insured "her" car under my name.

This worked for about 1.5yrs until the women at the front desk at my insurance office called me. "Hey.. we see your daughter has had her driver's license for some time now." "Are you going to add her as a driver to your policy or is she going to get her own insurance?" I joking said to her.. Are you telling me the party is over? She laughed.. Yep! She was nice enough to tell me it didn't have to get done immediately, but I took care of it in a matter of days.

I know this is a risk that I cannot take with my boys.

 

[Wolf359]

I did the same thing with my daughter. Bought, registered and insured "her" car under my name.

This worked for about 1.5yrs until the women at the front desk at my insurance office called me. "Hey.. we see your daughter has had her driver's license for some time now." "Are you going to add her as a driver to your policy or is she going to get her own insurance?" I joking said to her.. Are you telling me the party is over? She laughed.. Yep! She was nice enough to tell me it didn't have to get done immediately, but I took care of it in a matter of days.

I know this is a risk that I cannot take with my boys.

I don't know what you mean by worked for 1.5 years. It basically meant that they were basically driving without insurance because if you read the fine print, if they weren't on the policy and they lived at the same address, they weren't covered. So because they didn't get into any accidents in that time frame, it worked for you, but it's basically like driving without insurance. She wouldn't care if you didn't take care of it, they'd just basically still be driving without insurance. She was just assuming that all the time, your daughter wasn't driving.

 

[PandaBear]

Don't tell the insurance company about the new teen driver most times they don't know. Remember the car is insured not the driver. Your car can be robbed and get totalled it's still insured.

They will find out and they will decline the claim if you do that.

 

[PandaBear]

Sounds like a great opportunity for one to get a J-O-B and make some money to pay for some responsibilities....

This is why a lot of the young people just don't get a driver license until they are 18 and moved out of their parents.

Then if they do that the boomers would say the Millenials are ruining the American culture.

 

[PandaBear]

You have to have access to a car to get a learner's permit, which is required before a full license.

You can go to driving school (private) and pay to use their car to do the DMV test.

 

[Lubener]

This is why a lot of the young people just don't get a driver license until they are 18 and moved out of their parents.

That makes the most sense. I don't see the need for a 16 year old to drive unless they have a part time job to go to.. If that's the case, they can contribute to the car's expense.

 

[demarpaint]

I knew it'd go up quite a bit , but man, that much? I have Mercury. Time to shop around. Any other lower cost, decent insurance carriers that might be cheaper?

That doesn't sound like much. Having said that shop around. What I found with insurance companies, especially with Geico is that familiarity breeds contempt. Meaning sooner or later they'll be screwing you with price increases even with a perfect driving history. I price shop every few years and change insurance companies when the company I have gets greedy.

Edit: Being from NY where insurance is high and getting sued is common, when my son got his DL I did not add him to my policy. We had him title his car in his name and get his own policy, yes it costs more, that's the downside. The upside was God forbid he got into an accident I couldn't be sued. My wife and I helped him with the additional cost. We live in a sue crazy world, I wanted to minimize risk. My son was totally onboard with my reasoning. Several of our friends did the same thing saying that was a great idea.

 

[64bawagon]

They will find out and they will decline the claim if you do that.

It all depends on the state, unless they are a named exclusion on the policy its still no different than anyone else driving the car. I do know that companies like Hagerty specifically state no one under 25 is allowed to operate the vehicle. Like so many other things its all in the fine print. I had several agents tell me that you are under no obligation to report new drivers in your household but if asked and you lie its trouble. I never told and they never asked.

 

[PandaBear]

It all depends on the state, unless they are a named exclusion on the policy its still no different than anyone else driving the car. I do know that companies like Hagerty specifically state no one under 25 is allowed to operate the vehicle. Like so many other things its all in the fine print. I had several agents tell me that you are under no obligation to report new drivers in your household but if asked and you lie its trouble. I never told and they never asked.

My policy specifically said if I have children of driving age in the smae household not reported to them / added to the policy they will not be covered. You want to try your luck?

 

[JTK]

I don't know what you mean by worked for 1.5 years.........

Like I said, I understood the risks for the ~1.5yrs.

It's about ~$600 more to have her name added to my policy. Even with that, her name isn't even displayed on the insurance card. Just mine. The policy holder.

OT, but those above that mentioned driving school. Have you tried that route today? ~3 month waiting lists since the Rona. No one wants to be a driving instructor.

 

[raaizin]

Maybe you could convince him he doesn't need to drive? I keep reading stories that young people are no longer interested in driving.

Doesnt insurance company ask any other licensed drivers in your residence? Pretty sure mine did back in the day

 

[64bawagon]

My policy specifically said if I have children of driving age in the smae household not reported to them / added to the policy they will not be covered. You want to try your luck?

My policy didnt have that exclusion and to answer your question "Yes" I did try my luck and saved thousands.
One of the boys had a minor accident and we repaired it at home and had a friend paint the new hood and fender. That was part of the plan, anything small got handled in house.