Getting Driver's License...pay for own insurance?

[Chris in VA]

(On my phone, so short and sweet...)WRT driving...

Do you make your kiddo pay for their own insurance  (or if they are on yours, pay for the increase caused by adding them), or do you foot the bill?

Second question--In your state, province or country, do they have to have auto insurance before (or concurrent with) getting a driver's license  (the real deal not just permit)? Or can a person get a license and then not get insurance? (I know in Virginia you have to be insured even if you don't actively drive.)

[livetoread]

We foot the insurance bill, but told them any increase due to tickets or accidents that were their fault would be paid by them. 

[EmilyGF]

I think you need to think about your goals for the car/driver. Is it a pleasant extra for the driver or a help for the household? 

My parents paid my insurance and loaned me a car, but expected me to cheerfully cart my little brother around and run errands, etc. So they saw me as at their disposal and decided to pay.

But I always knew that if I screwed up (got a speeding ticket, etc) then I would have to pay the extra. Also, I was generally pretty helpful and responsible. I think they would have made me pay if money were tighter or if they hadn't seen my getting a car as making their life easier.

Emily

[gardenmom5]

car insurance is mandatory in our state if you own a car.  insurance companies will allow minor children on their parent's policy while they only have a permit.   when they get their DL - they must be listed and you pay extra. 

full-time students who are good students, get their insurance paid for by us.   if they're not students, or need some incentive... they pay for it if they want to be able to drive.

[gardenmom5]

at one point, a nephew was living with his mother, and she had allowed her DL to expire.  ***HIS*** car insurance went up because he lived with her.   he moved out on his own.

[Tap]

We pay all living expenses (including cars) for our kids through highschool and college if they are living at home.   If they need to go out of our area for specific opportunities, well tell them it will be on a case by case situation if we continue to pay their bills. 

 

DD19 is getting married in a couple months. She is staying home for about a year, while he goes into the Air Force.  When she leaves to join him, she will have her own car that is paid off (paid by her/him) and will take over her insurance bill at that time.  Until then, she will live her and finish her AA which is covered in full at her current college.   We will continue to support her while she lives at home, so she can save as much as possible for when she moves out.  One important point, is that they are both penny wise and savers by nature, we aren't paying for their expenses while they run around blowing all their cash. We would love to see them start off their marriage with $10,000 in the bank of their own earnings. 

[mamakelly]

We pay for insurance for our teen and college attending drivers. If insurance goes up because of tickets or accidents, they pay the difference. We don't have the big funds to contribute to college, so we help every other way we can.

[SKL]

I assume I will pay it when the time comes (at least while they are minors).  My kids are pretty spoiled though.

I do want them to be able to drive for my convenience.  Actually I can't wait.  Only 4.5 more years ....

Since most of my driving is for them anyway, I guess logically they should pay for my insurance bill, but that's not how I operate.

[KungFuPanda]

I don’t think there’s a wrong way to do it. It’s different from family to family. I do think it would be mean to push a kid into driving so he could serve as a family chauffeur for siblings and errands AND make him pay his insurance on top of that. 

[Corraleno]

I pay the car insurance for both kids, and will continue to do so as long as they're full time students. If one of them got a speeding ticket or caused an accident, though, I would make them pay for the increase (or work it off somehow).

[foxbridgeacademy]

We told the kids they have to pay for their own insurance, about $150 for DS.  He'll be 17 in July and pretty much refuses to get his permit ( no insurance hike for permit only) because he doesn't want to pay the $$.  I told him when he turns 18 I'm going to stop driving him places.  He's a.... cheapskate, and hates to pay for things, does great at saving though.  I think he's hoping to hold out for a partial payment from us, and if we had the extra $$ i would have caved by now.

[cjzimmer1]

Growing up my parents paid for ours.  But we lived way out in the country and once we had a license we were sent to run all the errands.  Occasionally we could drive somewhere for something of our choice but 90% of the driving was for their benefit.

Our kids really don't go very many places that we don't already go (except youth functions at church but we live across the street so no vehicle needed for those) so we have our kids wait until they are at least 18 to get a license (don't have to pay for driver's ed and behind the wheel which saves over $1000).  Once they have their license and for as long as they are in school (high school or college), we will pay half the increase and they pay half.  If they get their own vehicle it will be all on them.  

But by waiting till they are 18 they are pretty much done with high school and getting a job isn't such a big deal.  Eldest works part time and makes more than double minimal wage (plus has 21 days of paid vacation plus paid holidays and tuition reimbursement), so I don't feel like it's any hardship asking him to contribute.  Second DS plans to work at the same place as soon as he graduates (since they require a high school diploma) as well. If it was a financial burden to them, then I might reconsider what if anything I ask them to contribute.

And yes once they have an actual license they much have insurance even if they never drive.

[Amber in SJ]

While they live at home we pay the insurance.  They have been motivated to get their licenses at 16 because I don't drive so they'd rather stop taking the bus or walking everywhere.  Once one of the kids can drive they drive around their siblings & me when they are able to in return for our paying insurance & gas.

Insurance is mandatory in CA

Our dd20 is living at home and because of her choices she is no longer eligible for the good student discount and she had one "at fault" accident so she pays the difference that those two things made.

Amber in SJ

[RegGuheert]

Our children pay for their own insurance.  What we have done with the older ones is we provided them with a cheap first car that they own outright.  That way, when they needed a license in order to get to a job, they can get insurance on their OWN policy for their own vehicle.  The benefit of this approach is that it is actually cheaper than having them be insured to drive our cars.

When DS28 first got his license at age 20, he was paying about $600/year for his insurance.

When DD25 first got her license at age 19, she was paying about $450/year for insurance.  (When she was 22, she moved to a different part of the country where she could no longer use the carrier we have and she now pays about $900/year.)

[Carrie12345]

Ds is getting his license late and has a job. I expect him to pay his insurance.  Dd will probably get hers on time (16.5ish) but I don't really want her to have a steady job just yet, so we would be paying her insurance at first, and see how things go from there.

[mom@shiloh]

Our kids pay their own insurance. We see this as part of the gradual transition into adulthood.  They have all had part-time and summer jobs, usually before they even get their driver's license, so they have some income already. We provide them with a car and pay for the repairs for the car.  We also pay for the gas that is required to get them to their school-related activities, but they cover the gas for "fun" activities.

[Pawz4me]

We foot the bill until they graduate from college.

They had to show proof of insurance before getting their licenses, but not before getting permits.

[TravelingChris]

Only two kids had cars in college or high school and college.  We paid the insurance because they were are dependents (and still pay for one).  We did also pay for insurance before they got a car.  In all cases, it was helpful to me for them to be driving as well as for them.  None of them had jobs that could pay it except now the youngest does but she is planning to pay rent this summer at her dorm and also is now paying for the cat\s expenses.  She only works up something like 5 hours a week (at $15/hr) so between funding her own stay at college this summer and the cat, she won't have much money left/

[DawnM]

We pay for insurance and he drives one of our cars.  He is a good kid and with good grades, and responsible.  I don't know if we would do it differently if he weren't as responsible or not.  We haven't had to worry about that.

He is not going to have a car his first year of college, even though his college allows it.  We decided it isn't a good idea.  Maybe 2nd year.  We will see.  He is heading to college in July!

[Cosmos]

6 hours ago, cjzimmer1 said:

And yes once they have an actual license they much have insurance even if they never drive.

This is only if they live as part of a household with a car, right? Someone with no car doesn't need insurance. Or if they are off at college with no car?

I was surprised to find out we didn't need to add ds to the insurance while he's learning to drive . He's doing way more driving now getting the practice driving hours in than I anticipate he will once he has a license. (He walks or buses to almost everywhere he needs to go.) And I would think the learning hours are pretty high risk. But the insurance company said not until he has a license.

[marbel]

We pay for it while they are in school. Actually, when my son turns 21 this summer he will start paying some - we haven't figured out how much yet.  Neither of my kids had/has any desire to drive. The one who is driving doesn't drive randomly, just to school, work, and to one social event he attends each week.  Since we needed him to drive, we decided  not to make him pay insurance right away. He understands that when he has his own car and policy he will be paying it.  

We do a similar thing with the kids' cellphones. They are on our family plan, but they have to pay a portion. My daughter, who uses the most data of all of us, pays a higher proportion of the bill.  

Both kids have part-time jobs, though during the school year they don't work much. 

[LuvToRead]

We pay for the insurance.  In our state, they don't need to be insured until they have a licence.  They didn't ask to see any proof of insurance at the DMV, so I would assume it's not mandatory for a license.    Here, we insure the vehicle, and individual people are added to vehicle policies (each driver must be tied to one policy, not every car you drive), so if you don't own a car, I am not sure how you would insure an individual??  I'm sure there is a way, though, just not something I have encountered.  

[mumto2]

In England it is very common for those over 17 to have a license but no insurance and drive rarely.  They are holding their license which is good until age 70 ( think that’s it) until they need to drive regularly and their rates drop.  Most are aiming for mid 20’s. They can buy one day (or multiple day) insurance when they want it for pretty much any car they will be driving if they need to drive.  Roughly £20 a day I think and pretty easy to get.  This insurance also needs to be bought if they are in the L plate ( no fully licensed) stage and you have them practicing in your car with you.  It’s common just to pay for lessons ( £20 in our area) and have them go out with the instructor.  FYI,  not a posh area.

We had said they needed to pay for their own lessons because all their friends have had to but my kids are cheap and too busy to bother.  We are planning to pay this summer and get licenses out of the way.  After that it will be insurance by the day until they buy their own cars or we need them driving on a regular basis.  None of their friends have their own cars or drive their parent’s cars daily.

[katilac]

1 hour ago, Cosmos said:

This is only if they live as part of a household with a car, right? Someone with no car doesn't need insurance. Or if they are off at college with no car?

 

 

 

That's what we were told when we called and asked - no increase for adding dd to our insurance, even when she is home for the summer. She does not have a car and is away at college most of the time, and over 18. They said it was fine and expected that she would drive our cars occasionally. I think it would be different if she were driving to a summer job regularly. 

[Scarlett]

2 hours ago, katilac said:

 

That's what we were told when we called and asked - no increase for adding dd to our insurance, even when she is home for the summer. She does not have a car and is away at college most of the time, and over 18. They said it was fine and expected that she would drive our cars occasionally. I think it would be different if she were driving to a summer job regularly. 

This is NOT what we were told here in OK.  Once a household member has a license they must be listed on the policy.  I have wondered how they could prove this or enforce it if say you have a teen who has a license, but no car and you don't allow him to drive your vehicles at all.  

[fairfarmhand]

11 hours ago, happysmileylady said:

Yes.  Having a job that will pay for the insurance and gas of driving the car is a requirement in our house before getting the license.  In addition, my oldest bought her own car...sort of.  DH and I had planned to own a vehicle that she could drive, however circumstances ended up that when she actually go her license, at 17, we barely had a functional car for me, nothing for her.  However, my parents had one (my dad is an aircraft mechanic who fixes cars on the side and always has a few random extras around,) and offered it to her for just the cost of the parts.  

 

Her roommate had a small wreck a few weeks ago and when roommates mom came up. The mom was dang near horrified to find out that a 22yr old was paying for her own car insurance.  

This is how we do it.

[Katy]

I would only make them pay for it if we needed to use that as some sort of incentive to get away from screen time, be responsible, and get a job.

If they're an otherwise responsible kid with good grades we'd pay.

[Scarlett]

I think so much of this depends on the kid, the parents ability, the kid's level of responsibility etc.  

My son has a car that needs full coverage.  That would NOT have been my choice, but his dad, my XH,  bought the car for him and he keeps it insured.  XH pays an extra $1740 a year to insure ds's car with a $1000 deductible.  

With dss we paid $3K for a vehicle that we only have liability on and it costs us about $720 per  year.  

However, where we live a vehicle is a necessity.  I mean, an absolute necessity.  So it is no different to us than paying for school clothes.  

[fairfarmhand]

48 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

 

With dss we paid $3K for a vehicle that we only have liability on and it costs us about $720 per  year.  

However, where we live a vehicle is a necessity.  I mean, an absolute necessity.  So it is no different to us than paying for school clothes.  

Yeah, we only do paid for cars and liability coverage. But the cars are not fancy things that couldn't be replaced with 5K in the bank.

[Loowit]

We pay for DD's insurance.  If she stops being eligible for the good student discount, or if she got a ticket or wreck and the insurance went up she will need to pay the difference.

Right now she is concentrating on school and doesn't have time for a part time job, so she has no way to pay for it.  It is nice that she can drive and run errands for me, including dropping her brothers off at things, so I think it is fair that I pay for the insurance and gas.

[prairiewindmomma]

In our current state, once a household member is licensed they must be insured. We were quoted $250ish per month to add our son to our policy, so we are waiting longer as we simply cannot afford that. If he had a job and could cover that expense we would support his desire to get a license and provide an already available vehicle to him.