Teen Drivers - One Policy Or Two?

One question that I am often asked by parents of teen drivers is whether or not they should put the child’s car on their policy or if they should have their agent write a separate policy just for their child. Each situation is a little bit different of course but in general the answer is that you should put insure your teen driver and their car on your policy.

There are several reasons why this is a better strategy. Some of these reasons are to reduce the cost of your auto insurance for your teen driver and some are to better protect your assets. I am making the assumption that the vehicle is titled in your name and that your teen driver is still a minor.

Reason #1 - Multi-car discount. Most every policy allows a discount on your auto insurance if you have more than one vehicle on the policy. This discount can be as high as 15% in some states. If you put the teenager and his or her car on their own policy, you will be passing up this discount.

Reason #2 - Multi-policy discount. By now most insurance consumers are aware that they will have a lower rate on their home and their auto policies if they purchase both from the same insurance carrier. However, if you write your teen driver on a separate policy, most insurance companies will not extend the multi-policy discount to that new policy. This means you will be giving up another valuable discount which in most states will run as high as 15% or even more.

Reason #3 - Access to higher limits. When your teen starts driving, the risks of an accident increase. Not only do teens have a much higher rate of accidents, their accidents generally involve much greater bodily injury and property damage losses. This is the time that you should purchase the highest liability limits that you can afford. Here’s a simple test: Check your policy for the limit for bodily injury coverage. Now ask yourself if that limit exceeds the value of your home. If not, then every time your teenager hits the road, you might be putting your home on the line. Now, if you choose to write a separate policy for your teen driver, in most states you will find the limits of liability that you can purchase on that vehicle will be limited. In NC that limit is generally $100,000 per person for bodily injury coverage. By keeping your teen’s vehicle insured on your policy, you will be able to provide higher limits of coverage on that vehicle.

Reason #4 - Insurance Score issues. In most states the insurance rate on a policy is directly related to the “Insurance Score” of the policyholders. The “Insurance Score” varies by company in terms of how it is calculated but in general the insurance company is looking at your credit score and other parameters. Generally speaking the insurance scores for an adult will be many times better than those for a teen left to stand on their own. This means that by keeping your child and their vehicle on your policy, you can lend them the support of your superior insurance score to keep the rate on their vehicle lower.

You should always check with your agent before making the final decision about how to insure your teen driver but in almost all cases the choice is clear. Keep your teen driver and their car insured on your policy.

If you would like more information about teen driving safety and insurance issues, please click here.

When Teaching Your Teen To Drive - Look In The Mirror

When most teenagers reach about 14 years of age, they begin to think about driving. Obviously some children dream about this more than others but what is important to you as a parent, is how they might imagine themselves as a driver. Where do they get their persona as a driver? Where do they learn habits?

The answer is, they learn a lot from watching you drive. They will pick up your good and your bad habits and that is why as a parent, you must really monitor your own driving while your young teens are in the car. You should begin to model good driving behavior and even talk about that behavior with your children.

Here is a short list of the Don’ts:

While your young teens are in the car, don’t:

· Eat and drive. Make sure that they see you giving your full attention to your driving.

· Talk on your phone while driving. I know this one is hard to break but when your child tries this while driving it is the equivalent of having them drink a few stiff ones and then try driving. It is also illegal in NC for a teen driver to use the phone while driving.

· Run the yellow light. Teach your teens not to gamble with yellow lights. Their judgment is not as well developed as yours and this behavior can end in tragedy.

· Follow too closely. This is something you shouldn’t do at any time but when your child is in the car they will get a sense for what is the correct following distance. Show them by leaving enough space between you and the car in front of you.

· Drive aggressively. Again, they will model what you do. Teach them to be a courteous and respectful driver. It might make you late a few times but what is that to saving their life.

· Speed. Your children should respect the speed limit. This will save them money in tickets and attorney’s fees, but it will probably also save their life. 33% of teen driver fatalities are due to excessive speed.

Ok, enough with the negatives. Here are a few things you should do when your teens ride with you:

· Always use your seatbelt. And always insist that all passengers wear theirs as well.

· Use turn signals and practice “accurate” driving. Talk to your teens about this.

· Keep your car maintained and the windshield clean. The other day I had to drive my daughter’s car and I was appalled at the mess on her windshield. It was downright dangerous and I realized that I had never spoken with her about this subject. This goes for checking tire wear and tire pressure as well.

· Come to a complete stop at all stop signs

· Slow down in bad weather. Tell you teens that you are driving a bit slower and leaving more distance from the car in front today because the bad weather makes the driving that much more dangerous.

These are just a few tips that you can use. I’m sure you can think of even more to help your child become a safer driver so that you can get through this time in your life without a tragedy.

For more help on teen driving safety, please visit my web site at www.TeenDriverInsurance.com/clinard

Put Your Child Through The Paces - while you are in the car

The drivers education in-car training provided by our public school systems is really only a starting point for teaching your teen to drive safely. I recommend no less than 100 hours driving time for your child with the parent in the passenger seat before you let them out on their own.

One of the things that you should do when teaching your child how to drive is teach them how to deal with stressful and dangerous situations while you are there to talk them through it. For example, I advise that you take them to an abandoned, low traffic road and with them observing in the passenger seat, you drive car off the road and talk them through the process of getting the car back on the road in a safe manner. Too often, young drivers faced with this situation will overcorrect and jerk the wheel to forcefully. This can lead to them losing control of the vehicle. Let them gain experience with this type of emergency maneuver while you are teaching and talking them through it. When you feel that they are ready, have them drive off the road and bring the car safely back on to the road.

Another great learning experience is 5:00 traffic. They are going to have to drive in it eventually; don’t you want to make sure that you have taught them how before they tackle it on their own? Make it a point, when you think they are ready, to have them drive in stressful traffic situations, including traffic to and from ball games and concerts. If they have done this with you in the passenger seat, then when they are doing with a distracting friend in the seat beside them, they stand a much better chance of handling this safely.

Try to think of any other situations that might require your help and seek those out while you are still training them. We have a complete soup to nuts Teen Driver Training guide available to all of our insurance clients. This 47 page book will walk you through the process of teaching your child safe driving habits from vehicle maintenance to traffic lights, to highway safety and even includes a chapter on map reading. If you want to know more about this guide you can contact us by visiting our web site at www.TeenDriverInsurance.com/clinard.