Low-Cost, Legitimate Way to Insure Teen Driver Who Will Be Driving Very Rarely

[DollyWest]

My question involves insurance law for the state of: California

Our son just got his driver's license. His dad and I own two oldish cars, for which we carry liability only.

Now that he has his license, we called our insurer to add him, and learned that even with his good-student discount, our insurance rates will triple. Triple?

I asked the rep if there are any legal ways to do something cheaper, for instance, to exclude him as the driver for one car. No, they said. If there are more drivers in the household than cars, all drivers must be insured for all cars. Hm.

The other issue is that he is leaving for college in the fall. He will be home only for vacations. He is going to be able to drive for a small fraction of the year. And it doesn't seem like tripling our rates, so he can have the convenience of driving when he comes home to visit, makes sense.

Are there any legit solutions that might allow him to drive the cars occasionally, without tripling the darn insurance? For example, would it make sense to insure the two cars with separate companies, and add him as a driver on one policy only?

College costs being what they are, we need every cent for college, and tripling the premiums is not a wise use of our limited resources, but of course the kid just got his license and would like to drive occasionally.

Thanks in advance.

[jk]

ask them if they can specifically exclude him from all of the vehicles except one.


Now, if they do that, realize that if he does drive one of the cars he has been excluded from, the insurance company will not cover you if he is in an accident. In fact, if they find out he is driving vehicles he is excluded from (even without an accident), they will likely drop you.

[Who'sThatGuy]

Buy a third vehicle for him and have him insure the vehicle himself. He can get a part-time job to pay his own insurance. If he has his own insurance, you don't have to cover him on your policy.

[jk]

Buy a third vehicle for him and have him insure the vehicle himself. He can get a part-time job to pay his own insurance. If he has his own insurance, you don't have to cover him on your policy.

I believe they will still have to specifically exclude him though. As far as I have seen, insurance providers require all residents of a house to either be listed on the policy or specifically excluded from the policy.

[Who'sThatGuy]

I believe they will still have to specifically exclude him though. As far as I have seen, insurance providers require all residents of a house to either be listed on the policy or specifically excluded from the policy.

I think if the other person carries there own insurance, they don't need to be included or excluded. Or at least in NJ they don't.

[jk]

I think if the other person carries there own insurance, they don't need to be included or excluded. Or at least in NJ they don't.

I can only speak to my household in MI but I know that was the two choices I had. As long as they were a resident of my house, they were either included or excluded, even if they carried their own insurance on their own car. It's because it's not unexpected that any resident of a house might drive any car at the household.

[cdwjava]

What we did is purchased an older car and added my son as the primary driver to THAT car. Our other cars were worth a good deal even though they were older, because they were vans (and, thus, pricey).

Try the used car route if you can.