Why do I need to add my child to my car insurance policy if she never drives it anyway?

IN Wisconsin you don't.

Is your agent telling you you should add her?

He may be trying to protect you from the possibility of her taking the car sometime and not having coverage.

Or he might be trying to increase his income.

You will be liable for damages if ever she finds keys and goes for a drive and has a wreck.

Because if she lives in your house and is a household member, you are responsible for any damage she does while driving - even if it's on a secondary basis (which means, the policy of the car she's driving pays first, then YOUR policy pays). So as long as the company has the possibility of paying out on a claim for her, they are allowed to charge for her.

The option is, specifically EXCLUDING her from coverage on your policy. That means, no matter what, no way, no how, will your policy pay for ANY LOSS of ANY KIND, where she is involved driving. Even if she backs out of the driveway for you, and cracks up your car - they don't pay. She kills someone - they don't pay. YOU will end up writing the check.

If she REALLY doesn't drive . . . have her turn in her license, and then it's not a problem.

I believe most insurance companies require all licensed drivers in a household to be included on the insurance. We specifically excluded our daughter on our insurance, but we had to switch to an insurance company that would allow it (from Auto Club Ins. to Progressive, in the state of Ohio). This saved us $3600 per year, as she had been in a couple of fender benders during her first year of driving. Check around with different insurance companies to see which ones will allow you to exclude your daughter and how much the savings would be.

you should only have to add her as a driver if she has a valid license. if she is on a permit, she needs to be listed, but most companies won't rate her until she has a license. adding her to your policy will help her get better rates later in life. most states charge an inexperineced operator surcharge for anyone licensed less than 3 years. the companies want her added because she has exposure to your car and if she does ever drive it she needs to be covered, and they figure if she lives in your home at some point she will drive your auto.

shouldn't think you would have to. Only if the child is going to drive the car. Generally the insurance you already have covers learner drivers, but once they have their license they are not covered. If there is a chance of the child driving the car then you would need the cover in case of accident as the insurance company will renege if she is not on the policy.

If your child has gotten her license, then you need to add her to your insurance. This is due to the liability aspect of your policy, since your auto insurance covers each licensed driver for liability issues irrespective of the car being driven (i.e. when a car is rented or if you 'borrow' a friends car). If you have more licensed drivers than cars, make sure that she is not the 'primary driver' on any of them.

The reason the insurance company needs to know about every family member in your household who drives is because the insurance policy defines every family member in your household who drives as an insured. This may be worded a little differently depending on your state but your insurance policy will have a section where terms used in the policy are defined. "Family member" is defined as "a person related to you by blood, marriage or adoption who is a resident of your household. This includes a ward or foster child".

The liability section of your policy (that part of your policy which pays for damages to others which an insured may cause through their negligence) states "We [being the insurance company] will pay for bodily injury or property damage for which any insured becomes legally responsible because of an auto accident". It goes on to define an insured as, among other things, you or any family member.

You may be able to specifically exclude your child from coverage under your policy if you really don't want them on it but this would have to be done by a specific endorsement to the policy whereby your child is named and identified as a person who will have NO coverage WHATSOEVER under your policy. This has to be done by endorsement because this is a change in the definitions in the policy, which I just described.

When insureds refuse to report all drivers in their household and then an unlisted driver causes an accident, they still come to the insurance company with their hand out, asking for coverage. People are often surprised to find out how much claims from automobile accidents can cost. You don't want to shoulder that burden. In some states, unlisted drivers in the insured's household are generally added to the policy and coverage is granted. In other states, however, insurance companies may refuse to grant coverage. An underwriting review of the unlisted driver is performed and if the resulting premium increase from adding that unlisted driver to the policy is greater than some set amount (meaning the unlisted driver is a greater risk than the insurance company would have wanted to insure), the company may refuse coverage. They may also rescind the policy, meaning the policy is made null and void entirely and there is no coverage whatsoever.

Quite often an unlisted driver in a household is unlisted precisely because the insured knows full well that if the unlisted driver was added to the policy, it would increase the premium charge significantly. 16 year olds, drivers with a DUI in their history, etc. are generally the people who are unlisted. These types of drivers are the highest risk to the insurance company to insure and that is why adding them to the policy costs more.

You have to add her if she has a drivers' license, even though she's never going to drive your car, because the insurance company wants to cover the "what ifs" - what if there's an emergency and that's the only car available? See what I mean?

By adding her to your car insurance policy, you have two benefits.

First of all, you are not really paying much more for her insurance. If she had been insured independently, the cost would be much more, in case she needs to drive some time.

Second, which is the MOST IMPORTANT reason, and the reason that most parents do it, is that the longer she has insurance, and under this period when she does not incur any accidents, then when she moves out later in life and gets her own car insurance, it will be alot cheaper than if she hadn't. Its like building up a safety credit for later in life if you want to look at it that way.

I shouldn't think you would have to. Only if the child is going to drive the car. Generally the insurance you already have covers learner drivers, but once they have their license they are not covered. If there is a chance of the child driving the car then you would need the cover in case of accident as the insurance company will renege if she is not on the policy.

because insurance companies need to know what their exposure is, basically, anyone who lives in your household has access to your vehicle

It's for safety reasons. If you got in an accident and your child was in the car, how will you pay for the hospital bill?

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment:

Archive: Forum -Forum -Finance - Links - 1 - 2 - RSS - All RSS Feeds
The Causes and the Results. 0.314
Copyright (c) 2011 Financial Crisis Monday, May 28, 2012 - Terms of use - Privacy Policy