Ask an agent: Teen troubles

It's understandable to be concerned about the costs of adding a teen driver. According to our recent State of Insurance report, the average annual cost to insure a teen in Oklahoma is over $5,000. 

Unfortunately, you won't be able to save money the way you had hoped. With most companies, all drivers on the policy are covered to drive all cars on the policy. This means vehicles are not typically assigned to a driver. There are a few companies that will assign cars to drivers but it does not decrease the rate because all drivers are still covered to drive all cars.

Over time the rates will decrease (the older he gets, the lower the rates) and keeping a clean driving record will also help. Here are a few more tips for saving on teen driving insurance. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask. 

Typically, it is not cheaper to have your child on a separate policy. Some of the big rating factors are credit and current insurance status. Since your daughter hasn't established credit, she would be charged more than someone who's credit is established. The same goes for insurance status. The longer you are insured, continuously, the better your rate will be also. There are a few other factors such as multi-vehicle discounts, possible homeowners discount, multi-driver discount, etc. She would not have access to any of these discounts on her own.

I know adding a young driver will increase your rates a lot (according to our recent State of Insurance report the average teen driver in Arizona will pay just under $6,000 annually if on their own policy), but it's still cheaper than having your daughter on her own policy. 

Sorry to hear about your situation. It's hard to say if your insurance company is wrong to deny the claim without knowing your specific policy details. Many companies would have required him to be listed much earlier because he was a known person in the household.

It's possible that he could have also been an excluded driver. If you believe they are in the wrong, I would suggest seeking legal advice to help you through the claim process. 

You're the first question actually asking for ways to keep your teen on your policy!

That said, it may not be possible. There are a couple of things to think about here. First, it sounds like your daughter will be going to college away from your listed residence. If this is the case, she would need her own policy with the vehicle on it. Car insurance is priced at the zip code level and regulated by the state. Meaning, she needs a policy for the exact address she will be living in.

If you transfer the title to her, she can just get a policy in her name. However, if the title is still in your name, I recommend having you listed on the policy as an "additional interest." This way, if there is a claim check made out, it will be made out to you as you are the owner of the vehicle.