I’m wondering if it isn’t just as garland said - that she has the same permanent address as you. And is considered a “dependent” (by someone’s definition).</p>
<p>Because we wondered the opposite thing: when DS went out on his own after college - moved to his own apt in a different state, self-supporting with a job etc… we wondered if we could keep a kind of “family” policy with the multi-car discount and we could share the cost of the premiums. No dice. He has a different address, is not our dependent… so he is out. I completely understood this.</p>
<p>So maybe it is the permanent address that determines. Does seem weird, though, that you had to go through hoops for the same kind of temporary removal that one gets when the student goes off to college. At least you will get it with the documentation that she is in PC overseas. I know we had to send college transcript to get the good student discount in S’s early college years; don’t recall that we had to send documentation that he was in college - seemed like that just went on our say-so.</p>
What I meant was, that any of my friends that had called to ask about a newly acquired permit, did not have to pay for coverage during that time. It wasn’t until their child had an actual license that they were asked to pay additional premium. None of my friends has ever had to sign an exclusion to exclude children (of any age) without a license. </p>
<p>Yes, I knew that not making a decision was a decision. I didn’t realize that the only options were A or B since 21st Century had been good about things in the past. I thought there was option C - informing them the child was not driving and therefore didn’t need insurance or an exclusion. But I will exercise Option D - choosing a new company.</p>
<p>I hope that clarifies things</p>
<p>BTW, your name reminds me of Bonanza (and one of my fav characters), great show :)</p>
<p>Due to our business we use an insurance broker. Our car insurance is through Kemper. We are also in Ca. We are not required to insure children who don’t have a license. While they had permits they were covered under our policy but there was no charge. Our insurance does require us to keep them on while at school for a highly reduced rate since they don’t have the car at school. Our insurance covers cars that are registered in our name and in our state. When our older D purchased her car out of state and registered it in that state our insurance no longer would cover her. She had to get her own insurance in her own name. We found Geico to be the best deal for her. Her insurance is higher having her own policy versus if we owned her car and had it registered in our name.</p>
<p>I faxed the required info to the insurance company today…verifying that my kid is out of the country for two years. We actually LIKE our company and have received excellent customer service from them with claims and questions. Even though this is annoying to me…I will say, customer service did respond within 48 hours. NOW let’s see what happens when they get the fax!!</p>
<p>If a child (or in fact any other person) lists your address as their address, they are considered “members of your household” for insurance purposes and must either have their own policies or be insured under yours in order to drive your car. That’s why thumper1’s child is still on the policy - I’m sure she uses the home address as her permanent address while in the Peace Corps. After all, why would she maintain a separate address for 2 years?</p>
<p>If your 18 year old marries, but they live in your home, both your child and their spouse would be considered “members of the household.”</p>
<p>Auto insurance is not a “divine right.” But driving without it in most jurisdictions is illegal.</p>
<p>I understand this…and if she were anywhere but Rwanda, I might understand it completely. BUT she will be there for two years…no chance that she will be driving our cars during that time and she isn’t allowed to drive ANY vehicle while there…NONE…and that is what we had to fax to the insurance company…verification of the dates of her Peace Corps service.</p>
I understand, and I take your word for it that she really is in Rwanda. But why would you expect the insurance company to take your word for it, without something in writing?</p>
<p>Let’s say you were trying to avoid paying the premium for her, and just called and said, “Oh, she won’t be driving. She’s in the Peace Corps.” The insurance agent you called says, “OK. I’ll take her off the policy.” Lo and behold, she drives your car and has an accident. You want the insurer to pay. The insurer says, “She was taken off the policy at your request.” You say, “I never requested it.” If there’s nothing in writing, guess who loses?</p>
<p>I don’t think the insurer is being unreasonable at all to ask for faxed verification.</p>
<p>I had to sign a waiver for my 24 year old son…who was working as an engineer…fully financially independent…living in an apartment in the same city where I live…had his own brand-new car with insurance from another company…in order to get my car insurance. Why? Because my younger son had had an accident within the period of time reviewed by the insurance company. My older son had one two years before the period of time they could even consider. It did not seem fair to me at all. The day he turned 25 I insisted that they remove him from the excluded driver list.</p>
<p>However, it was comforting to know that my 82 year old father could drive my car if he needed to do so. It doesn’t matter if he can’t see, can’t hear, has Parkinson’s, and uses a walker…because he has a valid driver’s license and no tickets or accidents. (That could be because he hasn’t been behind the wheel of a car for over 5 years!).</p>
<p>Our kids were never added nor excluded from our policies. When S got our car shipped to him in CA, we deleted the car from our family policy & he got CA Mercury insurance. They had good rates, especially for honor students. He has never made a claim on the policy & we told D that if she wanted to drive, she’d have to help S pay for insurance & pay for gas she uses. She’s stopped talking about driving (tho both have licenses & S is 23, D is 21).</p>
<p>For a while after S had a small accident over the summer when he was about 19 or 20, they wanted me to sign a form & I spent considerable time speaking with various folks there about whether he had to be added or excluded but finally decided nothing needed to be done or changed & he continued to be covered as a permitted driver over the summer he was back from his CA college. He never had to get his own policy until we shipped the car to him in CA.</p>
<p>I would not be happy with being treated rudely and it may be worthwhile shopping around for a new insurer, especially after your many years of loyalty.</p>
<p>Chedva, I completely agree with you. BUT the first conversation with our insurance, they said that we could NOT drop this kiddo from our policy. They had no provision for Peace Corps in their database. BUT nicely the customer service person researched it and we gladly sent the documentation.</p>
<p>I have my son on my policy as 2% driving. I can vary the rate each year. On the occasion that he visits, and uses my car, I don’t want trouble. He has his own car and uses same insurance company, so I’m probably being cautious. No one plans for an accident, but I’ve had them and so has son. Twice I was rear-ended when at a red light.</p>
<p>I’ve added baby sitters for short periods, and never had a problem eliminating them.</p>
That’s not the insurance company’s fault; you should take that up with the state that continues to license him. In most states, an insurer cannot reject someone who has a valid license and a good record.</p>