# You want HOW MUCH to put my kids on my car insurance!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 24, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590 "2013-04-24T14:26:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/41 "2013-04-25T13:32:16Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > This just in from the YMMV files…I’ve had Geico for 15 years, and I’ve never found a cheaper rate. I’ve had two accidents where I wasn’t at fault and my rates didn’t increase either time. IIRC you are a veteran. Have you looked into USAA? > [@stpauler](#): > > 1. If you can, get USAA insurance. I’m an insurance underwriter\* for a different company and have worked there for the last 14 years. I buy my insurance from USAA. Yes, they’re that good and they’re that cheap. > [@Jman](#): > > Ohio, with USAA. I’m sure USAA’s prices are a little lower than what most insurance companies would be, but it’s always been low for me. I paid almost the same when we were living in Germany. Of course, I’ve never had an accident in 19 years of driving, nor a moving violation, and my wife’s only had one minor rear-ending incident, which was $2500 to repair (we paid the $300 deductible). Though our rates didn’t change after my wife’s little accident. OP, I cannot emphasize USAA enough, if you qualify (they have loosened their restrictions in recent years, it used to be military officers and their families, now enlisted and their families qualify and the memberships can be passed down to non-military children for life) then try to get them. They are hands down the best insurance company on the planet. I have them for my homeowner’s insurance too. I have a 2008 Mustang GT with under 40k miles on it and a 2001 Hyundai XG300 with 140k on it, both full coverage, $500 deductible, and I pay $86 a month in Indiana…just over $1000 a year. And this is even after they had to pay out twice in under three months when my ex-wife and I were separated a couple years ago and she was still on my policy as she was unemployed, one of which included a $12,000 payout to me for her totalling our minivan. Check 'em out. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/42 "2013-04-25T16:00:28Z")
As the daughter of a retired naval officer, I have to add +1 to the USAA recommendation. They’ve opened up the requirements so that pretty much anyone with military experience can get insurance through them. Hell, I get insurance thanks to my dad, and I’ve never served (I’m also eligible for a plot in Arlington National Cemetery, so long as I don’t marry before I die. I find this . . . odd). Their rates are extremely low, their customer service is pretty much the best of any company I’ve ever had to deal with, and when I’ve had to file a claim, it is amazingly painless. They also have a whole lot of benefits to go with the insurance - online banking, shopping services, credit cards, and more. ---
**Author:** ![Serronaulta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Serronaulta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serronaulta)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/43 "2013-04-25T16:28:06Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > My kids (twin boys aged 17, seniors in HS) got their driver’s licenses last summer. Since then we haven’t been able to let them drive, since to put them on our insurance would cost $5400 :eek: EACH, per year, and (here’s the kicker) they’d have to stay on our policy the entire time they’re in college. Getting them their own policy would cost even more, $6400 each (that would be in “assigned risk”). The costs of their chosen colleges is already draining our finances to the (almost) breaking point. It didn’t cost my parents anywhere near this (even adjusting for inflation) to put me on their policy in the mid 1980s. Any suggestions (other than don’t let them drive until they get out of college)? Got nothing for you in terms of lower insurance rates, but some colleges and universities, especially ones in major cities, don’t allow freshmen (and sometimes sophomores too) to have cars on campus anyway. (Like, for example, [Brown](http://www.brown.edu/about/administration/transportation/about).) Have you checked to see if your sons’ schools will allow them to keep cars on campus for the first one or two years? If your sons can’t have cars on campus at the beginning, maybe you can wait until they’re sophomores or juniors to add them to your policy. Some colleges and universities (again, like [Brown](http://www.brown.edu/about/administration/transportation/zipcar)) have membership programs with car-sharing companies like Zipcar. Students at those schools are eligible to join once they turn 18, and Zipcar provides insurance to its members. Is Zipcar available at your sons’ colleges? > [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > One of the boys is taking classes at a community college over the summer and it’s really inconvenient to drive him back and forth… Will he be taking classes at Nassau Community College during the summer? Could he possibly take the bus? NCC is served by several bus routes, including the [n35](http://www.nicebus.com/Maps_and_Schedules/Interactive_System_Map/IndividualMap/index.html?ID=4826), [n43](http://www.nicebus.com/Maps_and_Schedules/Interactive_System_Map/IndividualMap/index.html?ID=4830), [n45](http://www.nicebus.com/Maps_and_Schedules/Interactive_System_Map/IndividualMap/index.html?ID=4831), [n51](http://www.nicebus.com/Maps_and_Schedules/Interactive_System_Map/IndividualMap/index.html?ID=4835), and possibly the [n23](http://www.nicebus.com/Maps_and_Schedules/Interactive_System_Map/IndividualMap/index.html?ID=4818), [n24](http://www.nicebus.com/Maps_and_Schedules/Interactive_System_Map/IndividualMap/index.html?ID=4819), and [n27](http://www.nicebus.com/Maps_and_Schedules/Interactive_System_Map/IndividualMap/index.html?ID=4822). ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/44 "2013-04-25T17:21:33Z")
Do they not have busses in Nassau county? I got on Google maps, centered on the community college, and clicked all over Nassau county. There are a few pockets of bad commutes, but the vast majority of the county is within an hour of the college. An hour bus commute for a teen during summer is nothing. Get them a book, a schedule and a bus pass and they’ll be set. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/45 "2013-04-25T18:51:49Z")
I actually adored USAA for the 15+ years I used them. Then, I built a house in Escondido, CA and they refused to insure it due to fire threat. They wouldn’t actually come look at the house or review the property, it was all done via online map. My husband had State Farm. An agent came to our house, inspected it and insured it without issue. It’s so much cheaper to have a package deal, I canceled my USAA insurance and we have everything under State Farm now. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/46 "2013-04-25T19:33:26Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > $5400 each seems pretty high. I pay about $3000 a year for my youngest son (23). He drives an old car, we have a high deductable and all kinds of discounts for multiple policies, good grades, no accidents. I think the insurance companies assume, perhaps correctly, that every male child will demolish a car at some point before he reaches 25. Between the ages of 16 and 25 (when the rates go down) we will have spent something like $30,000 for insurance for each of my sons. Basically the price of a very nice car. I was told by my State Farm agent that rates go down once you’ve been driving for 9 years, not necessarily at 25. I’m 25 but apparently since I got my license at 17 I have to wait until 26. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/47 "2013-04-25T19:55:17Z")
> [@Serronaulta](#): > > Have you checked to see if your sons’ schools will allow them to keep cars on campus for the first one or two years? If your sons can’t have cars on campus at the beginning, maybe you can wait until they’re sophomores or juniors to add them to your policy. I have no intention for them to bring cars to school (at least not while they’re living on campus); that’s why I was frustrated that GEICO was insistent that we keep them on the insurance policy even though they’re not going to be around. > [@Serronaulta](#): > > Will he be taking classes at Nassau Community College during the summer? Could he possibly take the bus? Yes, NCC. The bus is a possibility, although he’d have to change buses in a neighborhood which isn’t particularly safe. Not sure how I feel about that. Also, he’s taking one class in the morning and one in the evening, and that would be three hours of travel (total) per day (there and back twice). It wouldn’t make sense for him to stay at the school all day, doing nothing. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/48 "2013-04-25T22:09:20Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > I have no intention for them to bring cars to school (at least not while they’re living on campus); that’s why I was frustrated that GEICO was insistent that we keep them on the insurance policy even though they’re not going to be around. It’s because they still might drive your cars on vacations and long weekends. Most companies have a very much discounted rate fro students attending school some minimum distance away from home- it won’t work if you live in Nassau and they live on campus in Queens ( and yes, I know people who do this) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/49 "2013-04-26T00:19:35Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It’s because they still might drive your cars on vacations and long weekends. Most companies have a very much discounted rate fro students attending school some minimum distance away from home- it won’t work if you live in Nassau and they live on campus in Queens ( and yes, I know people who do this) I know my parents got a huge break the the insurance when I lived on campus and kept my my car at home. There was also a discount because I went through a full driver’s ed course & loged X hours with the instructor. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/50 "2013-04-26T01:38:09Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > :smack: Why didn’t I think of that? > > You gave me a laugh, though for the record they look nothing alike. Damn, then what good is it having twins … 😛 Back in high school my brother dated one of a pair of almost identical twins - only real difference was one had long hair and the other had short hair. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/51 "2013-05-03T19:01:53Z")
My husband just added my new driver son to our GEICO policy this morning. He’s 22, a little older than the OP’s sons, but when I say new driver, I mean he got his license 2 days ago. It’s about $600 a year to add him as an occasional driver in Queens, not an area noted for low insurance rates. Howeve, the rep on the phone nearly gave my husband a heart attack- he initially said the premium was $2300 for 6 months. After hearing my husband’s reaction, he quickly clarifed that that would be the total premium for both cars and all three drivers. Is it possible they did the same to you , **Running with Scissors ?** ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590/52 "2013-05-03T19:04:00Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > My husband just added my new driver son to our GEICO policy this morning. He’s 22, a little older than the OP’s sons, but when I say new driver, I mean he got his license 2 days ago. It’s about $600 a year to add him as an occasional driver in Queens, not an area noted for low insurance rates. Howeve, the rep on the phone nearly gave my husband a heart attack- he initially said the premium was $2300 for 6 months. After hearing my husband’s reaction, he quickly clarifed that that would be the total premium for both cars and all three drivers. Is it possible they did the same to you , **Running with Scissors ?** Nope, the amount I quoted was definitely the **additional** amount. I suspect the age of your son (even though he’s still a new driver) has a lot to do with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-how-much-to-put-my-kids-on-my-car-insurance/656590.md?page=2)