<p>HI All,
What do you do about car insurance for your children? My kids were late to learn as we were overseas, but now both are licensed. One will be living near the car we own and which ‘winters’ with my sister (who technically is the owner of the car). The other will be half a country away. The car will stay at my sister’s, though the nearby son can and will drive it periodically.</p>
<p>Someone I know has insurance with the same insurer we do and the insurer allows her to reduce the cost since the kids are more than 100 miles from the car during the year? The son who is far away would not be driving until Thanksgiving, at the earliest.</p>
<p>Anyone know anything about this? This is with Allstate, if that matters.</p>
<p>Most companies will allow a reduction of rate when a student is more than 100 miles away. With a male driver this can save you quite a bit of money. Just give your agent a call, also be sure to ask if they offer a good student discount(they will usually require a copy of their grades).</p>
<p>My son is over 200 miles from our cars when he is away at college. Our insurer allowed us to keep him on as an “occasional driver”, which means that we don’t pay those expensive insurance rates for him. He is allowed to drive our cars when he is home from college (including summers). Our kids do not have their own cars. My younger one could be licensed 2.25 years before he gets into college. I am trying to delay his getting licensed so that I don’t have to pay those male rates for so long. He does not like the idea.</p>
<p>S is only 20 minutes’ walk away from home but our car insurance still allows him to get off our insurance while he is in his dorm. We put him back on when he comes home.</p>
<p>Call your agent. This topic has been touched on here before, and is rather amazing how much it varies with location and company. Maybe state laws? For my S, out of state for college, the company let us stop paying his insurance entirely, said they figured he’d be an occasional driver, as would any visitor to my house. Saved us a bundle. But my D, at an instate LAC an hour away, who will not be coming home much more than he did, will be expected to keep up the full insurance payment for all 4 years of college. If other providers don’t look at it this way, might be a reason to switch insurers. Luckily her twin sister, running around the globe on exchanges, hasn’t yet obtained a license. Bad for her mobility, great for our shared expenses. </p>
<p>To OP, you might be in good shape with your son not having to pay, as your immediate family is not the owner of the car. Hopefully he’d be an occasional driver. If they hold the insurance as well. Or is that you that holds the insurance?</p>
<p>AAA lets you drop the child who is away at college from the policy, and then add them again when they are home for the holidays and summers. It does save us several hundred dollars a year - maybe more. They have a formula they use, and they have always been happy to do it for us. They don’t put her on as an occasional driver, but either fully on or fully off. I call them the day before she comes home, and in 24 hours she’s on the policy.</p>
<p>Farmer’s Insurance also lets us drop Daughter & her car when she goes to school, and put her & it back on when she’s home. (She’s 300 miles away and no one drives her car while she’s gone.)</p>
<p>Son will be 50 miles away, and they won’t let us drop him from the insurance.</p>
<p>I’d probably call(anonymously) a nearby agent from the same company, but not your own agent, then ask his opinion. I’d do that just in case for some reason I didn’t like their policies, then I’d have found out without “tipping off” my own agent. If I didn’t like their policy, I’d consider swithing companies.</p>
<p>21st century lets us exclude our son during the school year, add him back for short stays at home, (Thanksgiving, spring break), FOR FREE, and add him back for summer,paying regular rates. It just requires a phone call - no documentation, maybe could be done online.</p>