I know this can vary a lot....but I'm curious how much I might expect to pay when my son turns 14 and gets his permit. He has good grades and wilk take a drivers Ed course....but for some reason my insurances website says discount for ages 16 and over...not for permit ages.
How much did yours go up? Time to get another job?
Good to know I have a few years until the rate increase. I have three boys so I'm basically screwed...however they will be getting jobs to help pay for it and if they don't maintain their grades they won't drive at all. Or at least that's how it worked when I was a teenager. I too was shocked about the permit being at 14 here...I'm so not ready.
Just me - 300$ every 6 months.
With one teen boy - $700+ every 6 months
With teen boy and additional cheapo vehicle (liability only) - $900+ per 6 months
When it comes to car insurance, all teens should be girls.
Most companies don't add the driver until they have their license. Talk to your agent about a discount for grades, drivers ed, and any other discounts they may offer. Don't drop your coverage too much....if he gets in a wreck and you have bare minimum liability limits, you may be getting sued for damages above your limits. Trust me, I speak from experience.
Also, I would say, not time for you to get another job. Time for the teen to get a job to support his driving costs!
I'm pretty sure your kids aren't added on to your insurance until they have their license (usually at 16.) As long as they have their permit YOU (or whatever adult they are driving with) is legally responsible for whatever happens, so there is no change in policy.
It's my experience that there are no changes when a child has a permit because they aren't allowed to drive without an adult keeping track of their driving hours, etc.
My son didn't get his permit until 15, he had driver's ed, he had hours logged with "practice" with me and his father. At 16, he took his test and passed. So, he had a license, but he still wasn't allowed to drive other kids in the car. That's how it works in California.
My ex husband got him a car that wasn't worth much, but was road worthy, so if he trashed the car, there wasn't much to lose.
I know states are different, but I'm surprised that states allow kids to get a permit at 14.
I have a son, and I am well aware that rates are higher for boys than for girls. I'm not saying it's right, but boys tend to want to show off or tend to drive more dangerously than girls.
My advice is to actually speak to your insurance provider and ask them these questions. As far as I know, children with permits are not allowed to drive without adults and are only allowed to drive for "practice" purposes.
Talk to an expert in your insurance company and don't go by the website.
Just my opinion.
P.S. My son is 17 and an excellent driver. He's on track for a career in law enforcement and has been allowed to drive police cruisers.
So many things depend on the maturity of the kid.
Best wishes.
We didn't have to pay for him till he got his actual license. Then the good grades count and we got an additional discount for doing our own insurance's log for new drivers.
I actually called my insurance company to ask. It was a hypothetical question, if I were to add my 16 year son (who is only 14) to my policy today, how much will it be. Had him as the primary driver on one car. The answer was about $1200 for the year. We do not need to add him as a driver until he has his license.
Currently we insure the same car as a 3rd on our policy for $600 a year. With a difference of $600, that is really not too bad. Being the nice mom that I am, I will only charge him the difference to add him to the policy.
Find out from your insurance what the rate is for a kid on a permit vs a kid with a full license. With SS, we didn't pay more while he was learning. With SD (4 years later), there was a small increase. The major jump was when they got a license, especially with SS. I would encourage your son to contribute, if driving is important to him. If not, he can get a state ID and not drive.
My son is 16 and got his license in September. Ditto the others--no increase in insurance until he got an actual license. I think the primary reason some states allow permits at age 14 is for agricultural reasons. Here in Minnesota when I was a kid it was actually called a "farmer's permit." However, just because he's allowed to get a permit at 14 doesn't mean that he has to. If it's shocking to you or if you don't think he's ready you can make him wait until he's 15. My son is very responsible and (knock on wood) no major problems yet, but I think kids in the U.S. get their licenses too young. I am VERY glad they have provisional licenses now. In most countries in Europe DL aren't allowed until age 18. We allowed our son to get his license because of his maturity and responsibility and I admit there are definite conveniences, but we are fairly restrictive about where he goes, when he drives and who goes with him. Good luck--it's a new world having a teen driver!
When we added our kids to our policy when they had a restricted license, there was no additional charges to our policy as long as they had an official drivers education program. Check with your policy. Once they turned 16, then the costs did go up but we got the drivers ed discount, the good grades discount and the multiple car discount. Also, I found out that sometimes State Farm offers a low price policy for someone who has never had insurance. If you have an accident or a ticket, the low rate goes away.
I was told by my insurance agent that insurance rates don't increase when a child gets a permit only a license. My daughter has a permit and it didn't change. It may be because you have to be in the car.
I don't know your state guidelines.
Our daughter was not added to our policies until she actually had her license at 16. At that point, she was added.
Our rates went from appx $900 every 6 months with 2 cars to $2000 every 6 months with 3 cars. BUT.....
She is actually insured under hubby's car ( Mercedes E 350) because it was cheaper than insuring her under her " new" ( my old) car Mercedes CLK 350. . My car is the one that jacked our rates up because its basically a race car ( Mercedes SL 550). The ONLY reason I mentioned the make of our cars was because I know we pay more because if what we choose to drive.
Our discounts include..... Her grades, she watched a video ( 10 minutes) at agent's office, defensive driving certificate ( got that after the 1st ticket :( to keep the ticket off insurance, and we have all of our insurance business and personal through the same agent. Lastly we get a cash discount of appx $200 for paying the policy in full when renewal time rolls around vs stringing out payments.
Most importantly for us was to put her in a good, solid, safe car. Her car is very well cared for and still looks brand new. She takes pride in it as well.
Best wishes to you... The hardest thing I did as a mom so far was teaching her to drive ( I quit and I've not been on the car with her driving more than 3 times in 3 years) and letting go with her driving in the traffic within the DFW area with some crazy drivers. She was taught to drive at her driving school and through private drive lessons with qualified instructors.
