<p>I just got a car, didnt have one during HS, and I need to know what to do for insurance. My mom wants me to get a normal 6 month policy even though Im not taking it to school. I only want it insured the rest of the summer, and during winter break. I was quoted about $700 if I was the primary driver and not using it at college, and about $450 if the car was kept in my dad's named, and I was listed as a secondary driver. Wouldnt it be alot cheaper tho if I just paid for half of this month, then the middle of december thru the middle of january? If you dont mind me asking, are the freshman here who dont have their car at college paying for all 6 months or just the 2? If the former, about how much is it costing?</p>
<p>Our car insurance company has a plan called "away at college" which saves about $200 a month for us. Our S was able to drive any of our vehicles when he was home during vacation.</p>
<p>My parents did the same as Tookie, though they had to switch companies to get it. The original company said my mom would have to do paperwork to put me on insurance every time I came home, and then more to take me off, but she shopped around and found a company with a good away at college deal.</p>
<p>Same for my insurance - GEICO has a good plan for away at college.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Yep, GEICO here too.</p>
<p>GEICO is a good idea - tho not available in all states :(</p>
<p>I have State Farm and have the same deal. The Away-at-college rate is good for the whole year, even though my son is back for the summer.</p>
<p>You have multiple choices, none of them cheap. You can get the policy in your own name and suspend the policy when you go to college--which some companies let you do. You can get a policy that provides a discount for college students who are a certain distance from home and not taking the car. You can put the car on the family policy and suspend it or use a distance discount.... </p>
<p>Don't forget there may also be discounts for keeping a B average or better.</p>
<p>My son just bought his own car insurance policy, and chose our family insurance company (Nationwide), in part because they would give him a long-time customer and multi-car discount because of his association with us, along with a good-student discount, a good-driver discount, and a college occasional-driver plan.</p>
<p>If your family has had insurance with the same company for some time, you might call and see what they can do in terms of a quote for you. We found it to be notably better for him than the nearest other price for similar coverage.</p>
<p>moot -</p>
<p>That's true. State Farm is not known as a low-cost insurer, but since we're long time customers with multiple policies, every time I do a comparison with other companies, State Farm can meet or beat the price. I also have an umbrella policy that covers us, and having that allows the cost of other policies to go down.</p>
<p>But now my son is about to take his car back to college with him. Why, I don't know; it'll just sit in a parking lot about 95% of the time. So the insurance is about to go up again. Oh well, I'm not only paying for my son's college, I paying for my agent's kid's college also.
:)</p>
<p>Safeco also has an "away student" discount. What really puzzles me, however, is the fact that it actually saves us money to keep our 23 yr old, who is now living in Japan, on our insurance--even though he no longer qualifies as an "away student." something about the number of cars versus number of drivers... (We keep our students on our own policy.) I am thankful for a local agent who can help us with all the ins and outs of insurance!</p>
<p>Because auto insurance is regulated at the state level, and some states allow more competition than others, it is hard, and risky, to generalize about which firm and what coverage would be cheaper. </p>
<p>You realy need to shop around. No way around it.</p>
<p>Whatever you decide to do, don't drop the comprehensive coverage because no one is driving the car.<br>
My neighbor made this mistake -- the car was vandalized right in the driveway. End result? Not covered -- no payment.</p>
<p>As Newmassdad said, it depends on the state. My question is, does anyone in NJ get an "away at college" rate? I haven't come across it myself.</p>
<p>New Jersey doesn't discount. On practically any insurance. You guys pay like twice as much as most states as far as Auto & Health.. I'm not sure about the rest of the types...</p>
<p>Well, we do get a "good student discount". :)</p>
<p>As I recall, there are exactly two states that have highly regulated insurance markets: Massachusetts and NJ. </p>
<p>In Mass, all rates are the same, believe it or not. Some insurers have been able to offer pre-defined discounts for affinity groups, but these discounts are in the so so range of 10% or less, hardly enough, IMHO, to justify going with an insurer that will give you hassles for claims or deny coverage when you most need it (yes, both happen with disappointing frequency). In MA, insurers can only offer such coverage or discounts as pre-approved by the state. Bottom line in MA: It pays to shop around, but not for price.</p>
<p>NJ I don't have any personal experience.</p>
<p>Yeah, i know ma is expensive as well.. and they have really weird policies and regulations about things. i work for an insurance company but i don't deal with massachusetts (yet. probably soon.) I do know i've seen their rates and they are pretty high. I'm not sure if they are higher than NJ or not but I know NJ is really up there.</p>