What Happens If I Don't Add My Teenager To My Car Insurance?

The 16th birthday is cause for celebration, mainly because it means your teen can start driving themselves around. But now you are probably wondering about the costs of adding your teen to your insurance policy, and asking questions like “what happens if I don’t add my teenager to my car insurance?”

You can both get into a lot of trouble if they drive your car or drive without insurance. In this article, we’ll discuss what happens if you don’t add your teen, and how to save on plans when you do.

Teenagers must have auto insurance whether they are driving their own vehicle or that of a family member. But there are two options:

• First they can be added to an existing family policy.
• Second they can get their own policy*

*Each state has a minimum age to get a car insurance policy. For all but three (where the minimum is higher) teens must be 18 to get a policy themselves. Barring that, younger teens must be legally emancipated.

If neither of those apply, you must add your teen to your policy for them to drive.

Adding A Teen Driver To Your Policy

When your teenager gets their license, they are not automatically covered by your existing policy even if they drive your car and live at home. However, adding a teen driver to your policy is a simple process that enables teens to safely and legally drive.

The table below offers some basic pros and cons to this option:

Getting Your Teen Their Own Policy

Getting your teen their own policy is a useful way for someone who meets the age or other eligibility requirements to be independent and cut strings to other family members. However, it comes with pros and cons.

The table below offers some basic pros and cons to this option:

The Cost Of Teen Car Insurance

The cost of teen car insurance depends on whether teens are included on the family policy or whether they’re on their own policy.

Consider this: in most states, prices for a 17-year-old male average 9% higher than prices for a 17-year-old female even if they are added to a policy.

This means the average car insurance rates for a 17-year-old male are over $7,000 annually but only $6,400 for a female.

Insurance companies calculate the cost of premiums based on the risk analysis for each driver which includes the likelihood of the insurance company having to pay a claim. The risk of having to pay a claim goes up when a driver has:

• A long commute
• A history of accidents
• Is young
• Has a poor credit score
• Is in a big city

All of these things can influence the premiums on any policy whether a teen is added to your policy or they take out their own. But given that teenagers have statistically high rates of accidents and limited other metrics that would otherwise counter the high rates of accidents, their premiums will be at the highest point when a teenager is 16 and slowly decrease until they reach 25.

Some of this cost can be modified with things like multi-person or multi-vehicle discounts, as well as insurance-company-specific discounts on safe driving habits for your teen or good grades.

Cost To Add Your Teen To Your Insurance Policy

According to the Insurance Information Institute, adding a teen driver to your policy can increase premiums between 50% and 100%.

The cost of adding a teen depends on several factors. For example: If you add a teen to your family policy, with full coverage for one year averages $5,455 in Colorado but only $2,810 in Idaho.

The cost of adding your teen to your policy depends on several factors such as:

• Their driving history (if any)
• Their age
• The type of coverage you want
• The state in which you live
• Their gender
• Their grades

Below is a table showing some average costs of a adding a teen to your policy based on age and state:

Cost To Getting Your Teen A Separate Policy

The cost of getting your teen a separate policy depends on several factors such as:

• Their driving history (if any)
• Their credit score (if any)
• Their age
• The type of coverage
• The state in which you live
• Their gender

Below is a table showing some average costs of a teen getting their own policy based on age and state:

Why Is Teen Car Insurance So Expensive?

Teen car insurance is expensive because teenagers are new drivers and are considered risky drivers because they are statistically responsible for a disproportionate number of accidents and minor infractions such as speeding tickets. This makes them more costly to insure.

Accidents

According to the Insurance Information Institute, teen drivers represent only 5% of the number of licensed drivers on the road but they account for almost 9% of fatal car accidents.

Alcohol

Alcohol risks are heavily associated with underage children which means that teen insurance policies are typically higher because of this.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, teen drivers between 16 and 25 account for 43% of fatal car accidents impaired by alcohol.

Gender

If you have a male teenager in your home, the cost will be higher for them compared to a female because male teenagers are more likely to utilize unsafe driving tactics or get involved in car accidents.

Male drivers account for 66% of teen crash fatality rates compared to females.

How To Save Money On Car Insurance For A Teen

There are several ways to save money on car insurance for a teen.

Good Student Discounts

One of the most common is a discount based on academic performance. Teenagers who are still in high school can get slightly reduced insurance coverage based on the GPA they maintain.

Safe Driving Discounts

There are several safe driving discounts available for students depending on the company which usually require participation in a safe driving course and an app or device that plugs into the phone to monitor driving behaviors.

• Nationwide’s Smart Ride Program offers instant savings of 10% off your policy for a teenager and up to 25% off if your teenager only drives their vehicle on a limited basis.
• Progressive’s Snapshot Program provides discounts for teen drivers who avoid driving on weekends between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m., as well as those who utilize safe driving tactics.
• State Farm’s Steer Clear Program offers discounts for teens who don’t get moving violations or accidents for three years.

What Happens If I Don’t Add My Teenager To My Car Insurance?

If you have a teenager in your house who operates your vehicle, they legally must be listed on your auto policy.

If you do not add your teen to your car insurance, and they get in an accident using your car, your insurance company could cancel your coverage and deny you future coverage. In other cases insurance companies might consider this insurance fraud if they believe you failed to add your teenager on purpose.

As for your team, if they are caught driving without proper insurance they can have their license suspended or revoked. they might also be designated a high risk driver which could cause insurance rates to increase and insurance companies to deny coverage altogether.