Insurance and kids and such

[veedubtek]

Disclaimer - this is all purely hypothetical, not really happening, just in case.

So, the recent discussion in the SUWYS thread got me thinking. I've got a 19 year old son, and a 21 year old daughter. Both driving and insured since they were 16. I've had insurance with Geico since 1997.

A little over a year ago, maybe slightly longer, I had gotten my Geico renewal papers (now, random fact here, I typically have 7 or 8 cars on my policy), and the insurance for my 74 VW Thing just seemed really high to me. I don't remember why. So, I called my local State Farm agent, and they offered to insure it dirt cheap.

Quite a few vehicle switches on my policy later (realistically, a couple weeks for me), I had actually went to remove a car, and my quoted rate was higher?!? For some reason, my kids weren't rated on the most expensive vehicle on my policy, but they would've been had I removed this car that they were currently rated on. So, I insured that car that I didn't own any longer for about 6 months. (My son also has 2 accidents and a speeding ticket against his license...I wish I could be mad, but I remember my young driving days).

Now. I currently have 2 policies. My Porsche. My wifes new car. Couple spare cars. All on State Farm. My kids cars are on my Geico policy. My kids aren't rated on my SF policy. I'm pretty sure I should not be allowed to do this?

Hypothetically speaking if this situation were to happen, of course.

 

[Mainah]

Very interesting. Watching to find out the answer.

 

[Bruce]

Why not get classic car insurance for the Thing? It is around $300 a year for my 968.

I believe that if your kids crashed one of the SF vehicles that SF would try to make a claim against their coverage with Geico. Just like if I were driving one of your SF vehicles SF would try to claim against my Allstate policy. That is the best case scenario. It might be that they have no coverage.

 

[Julian]

I wonder if it would be better for them to just have their own policies? Wouldn't that cover them driving your cars?

 

[veedubtek]

Oh, that doesn't bother me at all. They won't be driving anything on the other policy. No way, no how. Sorry kids, love ya, but that's why I bought you your own cars.

Premiums were over triple with them on their own policies when I got that quote. Considerably more than triple, actually.

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

We were with State Farm for 26 years and had multiple mature policies which have very low rates and cannot be cancelled by State Farm with accidents, tickets, etc. We let our youngest Daughter take one of the mature policies (which gave her a lower rate) when she moved out on her own and got her own insurance with State Farm. This really screwed me when I bought my Z06 as our two 2500 HD's had the other mature policies, we later shopped insurance and Farmers Insurance was able to save us enough money on all of our policies that the insurance on the Corvette was basically free and made the switch.

I guess if Geico does not catch on to it, you will probably be ok - curious as to the outcome?

 

[Ronnie]

I don't see the problem with the posted scenario. That is, your kids are insured under your policy with Gieco on their own cars and everything else is with SF which they are not covered under. So There is no issue unless they get in trouble in one of the SF covered cars, right? Insuring a car you no longer own sounds risky. What if the new owner gets in an accident, is sued and the amount awarded exceeds his and your combined policy limits? If the plaintiff decides to pursue personal assets, whose personal assets will be pursued, the new owner's, your assets or both?

On a semi related note, another vette owner gave me some advice on what to do when my son starts driving less than two years from now. Have at least as many cars as there are drivers in the house. This way, I can claim that he will only be driving his own car so the premiums on the vette won't go up. The alternative is to sell the vette and I've heard nothing but stories of regret from guys that have done that.

How is a car determined to be a classic? Is it just age?

 

[Bruce]

How is a car determined to be a classic? Is it just age?

Classic is determined by age and type. My Porsche 968 is a 1994 model. She qualified for a $300 a year classic car policy at 20 years old in 2014. Before that I was paying around $600 a year for insurance with Allstate. That policy is based on a agreed valuation of $20k.

 

[Scuba_ref]

We are with State Farm and have had as many as 6 cars, our house, our camp trailer and the boat all insured at the same time. When our oldest graduated college and became a High School teacher in Las Vegas this past year we were able to gift her the policy for her car which allowed her to benefit from the years of relationship with SF that she developed on our policy with her new individual policy. I don't know what the numbers are, but her insurance in Vegas ended up being quite a bit cheaper through the gifted policy than if she had gone on her own. The gifting of the policy to her had no effect on our rates.

 

[justason]

I think your completely within your duty as a parent to get mad at 2 accidents and a speeding ticket, regardless of history...but I digress

as for the hypothetical insurance. I don't really understand the two policy approach. attach them to the cheapest cars, and they should be covered regardless of what they drive.

I have 4 drivers and 4 cars in NC, I insure thru Erie insurance. no issues, we all swap often

 

[OCMD]

Hypothetically speaking, if the kid is the listed sole owner of the car and has his/her own policy? End of story. All responsibility for any wrecks caused by the kid is on the kid and the policy. The problem arises when you the parent own the car in conjunction with the kid, and the kid is involved in another wreck. This will be a can of worms for the experts to work through.