When to Take My Teenager Off My Insurance Policy

If the idea of having a teen driver in the home is terrifying, the idea of having one on the roads with insufficient insurance is terrifying. However, there will come a time when every parent must consider whether it’s in their best interests to continue including their teenager on their insurance policies. It may be sooner than you realize.

Check State Laws

While no longer teenagers at this point, many states have laws requiring drivers aged 25 and older to purchase their own insurance policies, according to I Drive Safely. At the very least, parents should consider removing children from their insurance policies once they have full-time jobs and are living on their own. This is despite the fact that nearly half of all college students expect their families to support them, financially, for as much as two years beyond graduation.

Below you will find other indications that now is a good time to consider leaving the responsibility of purchasing insurance in the hands of your teens or young adult children.

Why it Benefits Parents to Remove Teens from their Policies

Adding a teenager to your insurance policy is a big risk for parents — which is one reason it costs so much more to insure teen drivers. Not only are teen drivers inexperienced, but that places them at a greater risk for having accidents that cause:

• Property damage
• First and third party injuries
• Liability claims

These increased risks all result in higher insurance costs for you. Not only do your needs for additional auto insurance protection rise with teen drivers, but also the need for excess liability and/or umbrella insurance coverage. That still doesn’t help you understand when the best time to remove your teenager from your policy will be.

Timing the Big Remove

One thing you need before leaving your teen to his or her own devices for purchasing insurance is confidence that your teen is ready to be on his or her own policy. That means that you’re comfortable with your teen’s driving ability.

Consider using GPS tracking for teens to help you understand his or her driving habits better. You can even set up alerts for certain behaviors like:

• Speeding
• Hard braking
• Idling
• Boundary alerts

Knowing your teen is a safe driver when you’re not around may give you confidence to cut the cord. Before you do, though, you need to give your teen sufficient notice that he or she needs to start shopping around and comparing costs, so your teen understands the financial undertaking insurance truly is.

Finally, make sure your name is not associated with the vehicle your teen is driving in any way before you remove them from your policy. Otherwise, you could be liable for any shortfall in their insurance coverage.

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