<p>If your child has left for college and left a car at home, be sure to call your insurance company. Many companies (mine is USAA) significantly decrease premiums if your child is in school more than 100 miles from home and he or she doesn’t have a car there.<br>
Freshmen can’t have a car on Ds campus, I’ll drive her car once a week or so, and her premium went down by over $300 for six months. That’s the good news. I had that same good fortune when my son was at school in Texas without a car. The bad news came when my son took his car to Texas. Since his car is now principally garaged in Texas, he must have a separate Texas policy. His insurance went up by $600 for six months.</p>
<p>And make sure you are getting your good student discounts, driver training discounts and whatever other discounts you deserve!</p>
<p>LWMD-
Went throught he EXACT same thing with USAA and my older s having his car in Texas for the majority of the yr. We lost the multicardiscount for him because he had to have a separate Tx policy (we are not in Tx). My 16 yr old just got added to our policy and… (embarassed to admit) we now own 4 cars. I dont even want to tell you what our insu rates are!! I get ill just thinking about it! Their suggestion to cutting costs? Raise deductible or remove collision on the car in Tx (its 8 yrs old, but its a Toyota in good shape- and I dont want to lose it should an accident occur). Swell.</p>
<p>Jym626, I have the opposite - son took car OUT of Texas and his insurance rates went down. We just added our 16 year old and now rates have skyrocketed (we also have USAA).</p>
<p>Tookie-
I’ve forgotten what it is in Tx that causes your rates to be so high-- I believe USAA said Tx wasnt very good with documenting/requiring that all drivers have insurance,so the uninsured motorist coverage becomes a big issue. Is this close to correct? I am forgetting what the explanation was…</p>
<p>Texas, a border state, has many uninsured motorists. You’d be amazed at the number of people who come here and drive without licenses, insurance, etc.</p>
<p>Now you have my curiosity up. I had thought it was a statistics thing that judged us with a historically high amount of traffic accidents, but you are probably right about the uninsured motorists. Just judging by my own observations, people down here drive pretty crazy.</p>
<p>I just got off the phone with my agent after reading this and she says I have to keep s on my policy just as if he was still driving in TX because they are not a licensed agency in FL. No reduction in amount! That’s a bummer!</p>
<p>I have Nationwide. She said that she is an independent agent that is only licensed in Texas and that our policy is written through her agency. She said we could get another policy with an agent in Fl, but that we would lose the multi-car discount. I told her about USAA and she said that they must not use ind. agents. If ya’ll know differently, please let me know because I hate to tell you what insuring 4 cars with two teenage boy drivers is running us And, I have a freshman boy who will be driving next year! YIKES!!</p>
<p>Wow, lots of USAA holders here. We are, too. S is at an in-state university without a car, 600 miles away, but we still have to insure him “in case he drives a friend’s car.” Bummer. Just added 16-year-old D this past spring. I don’t like to look at our monthly bill— gives me a huge headache. I will be very happy when both kids are 21 and paying their own insurance, of course, then we won’t get the tax deduction, so it’ll be a wash anyway. Sigh. It’s always some expense or another!</p>
<p>Ag54, I lost my multi-car discount (in the same state) because one car is documented as garaged at D’s off campus apartment, the other, at our primary home. I’d move them both under D’s address, but that city is far more expensive than our home city. It’s cheaper to go without the discount, wrong as that is. Both cars are titled to me but that doesn’t matter apparently. </p>
<p>I know that many property insurers have stopped writing in Florida, but hadn’t heard that auto insurers were pulling out (???).</p>
<p>ag54,
Look into Geico. they will give you an online quote, no agent required. They have the 100 mile rule, too. But older child with our car/our policy had to be written up with a new policy for PA when she took the car to school. Apparently state requirements vary so policy must reflect where car is ‘housed’.
momof2inca,
I believe our umbrella policy covers our kid borrowing a car. It is cheaper annually than 6 months of under 25 male car coverage.</p>
<p>mominva,
When I talked to USAA last year, the agent said it is not possible to not insure our son with auto insurance on our policy until he is independent (meaning, we don’t claim him on our taxes). It’s a company policy. I don’t really get it, because what if our S turned into a crack head and we didn’t want to pay for his insurance (or support him in any way)? I guess we’d have to not claim him at that point. A friend who insures with a different company said her agent lets her add her D back to their policy for winter vacations and summer, whenever she’s home using the car. USAA doesn’t allow that. Makes me mad, but their rates are so good that over the long run, it’s worth it. Our D will likely take a car to college in two years, so it will not be as much of an issue.</p>
<p>Drop that insurance. Nobody tells me what I have to buy if I don’t want it. I too went to Geico. It dropped our rate by $1600 a year and let’s my D drive when she is home for the summer and breaks. Liberty Mutual tried to tell me I couldn’t remove her too, so I removed them.</p>
<p>By Geico, its called “occasional driver” Our rates just dropped by half last week when S left. It leaves him covered when at home for holidays,etc .</p>
<p>We have the same thing with Travelers…‘occasional driver’…allows her to drive when she comes home on breaks and during the summer. And yes, significant savings.</p>
<p>USAA has the “occasional driver” option as well. You might want to call them back, momof2inca.
And despite the issues addressed here, USAA is very good insurance. It is rated one of the top in the country. You can only get it if you or a member of your family is/was an officer in the military.</p>
<p>I should have been more clear. We do have “occasional driver” on our S and it is saving us good money compared to what we were paying for him. I was just hoping we could drop him while at school and add him when home. That’s what they don’t do, as a company policy.</p>
<p>Edit: jym, I agree. USAA has been cheap and good to us for homeowners, drivers, life insurance, etc… I’m wondering if our kids will be able to get USAA since neither my H nor I were in the military (H’s dad was an officer in the Navy, so that’s how we are able to get it). Do you kinow if it carries down to grandkids?</p>
<p>If you have USAA, then yes, your kids will be able to get USAA. I think I saw that on their website.</p>
<p>Last year when S was a freshman and didn’t have a car at school, USAA classified him as “away at school” and he still was covered when he came home on holidays. Saved us quite a bit of money.</p>
And, I have a freshman boy who will be driving next year! YIKES!!</p>