Buying car insurance is not really what I had in mind when I thought about turning 16, getting that coveted driver's license and driving my first car. But, as all grownups know, auto insurance is definitely a non-negotiable part of being a driver. Now that your teenager has a license, how should you handle car insurance? Of course, whether you foot the bill or let your kid pay for their own auto insurance is up to you. Here are a few things to consider as you make your insurance decisions.
Â
Car insurance isn't cheap, especially for teenage drivers. If your auto insurance policy offers a teen discount for safe driving or good grades, having your child pay their own auto insurance premium can be one way to encourage those behaviors. If putting in the work for a B average will save your teen a few bucks on their car insurance, they just may be willing to go the extra mile.
Â
On the other hand, many teens are heavily involved in academic and extracurricular activities. Paying for even cheap car insurance may not be an option for your teen if they don't have a job. Some parents have the philosophy that school should be the student's main focus and do not encourage their high school children to have a paying job, even if they have a car. If you fall into this camp, asking your teen to save enough to pay for auto insurance each month is probably not realistic.
Â
Adding your teen driver to your own car insurance policy makes sense for many parents of newly car-ready kids. If you are planning to pay for your child's auto insurance, having the whole family on the same insurance policy is one less bill to worry about. But combining car insurance policies can also be the cheap way to go (relatively speaking - with a teen driver, it's unlikely any insurance policy will look "cheap" for a while). Auto insurance companies generally give discounts for multiple drivers and multiple cars, so asking your insurance agent for a car insurance quote that includes all the drivers in your family will usually yield the most bang for your buck.
Â
If you don't plan to pay for your teen's car insurance policy, combining their auto insurance with yours is still a way to help them out. Even if it doesn't decrease your own insurance rate, your child's car insurance will likely be noticeably cheaper if you let them onto your shared insurance policy. How you work out the split insurance premiums is up to you - you can arrange to have your teen give you cash each month for their portion of the car insurance or you can have them pay the auto insurance company directly. Whatever you choose, make sure the insurance payment arrangement is clear and agreed upon by both of you. If you're always covering your child's portion of the car insurance premium when you intended for them to pay for their own insurance, you will end up with a conflict.
Â
No matter who pays for car insurance, think about having your teen do the leg work to get themselves either added to your insurance policy or to set up one of their own (walk them through the process and be there for support). This is something they will need to do someday and having practice with Mom or Dad will make being responsible for their own car insurance second nature, whether they need to do it now or in a few years.
Author Resource:
Adding your teen driver to your own car insurance policy makes sense for many parents of newly car-ready kids. If you are planning to pay for your child's auto insurance, having the.... Learn more at save and http://www.inscenter.com/business-insurance
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")