Insurance for Teen

I would require your teenager to pay for gas and part of if not all of the insurance. How much of the insurance the teen should pay really depends on what they can afford. At least half seem reasonable. Driving is a privilege not a requirement. Rules are a must…keeping grades at a certain standard, being home on time and always telling parents where they are going.

I had to pay for insurance, I worked a job to do it. We had to keep our grades up, stay out of trouble... in order to keep our car privileges.

Just a side note: I had to remind my daughter about not letting other kids ride with her. I know it is hard to say no when someone comes up to them in the parking lot after school and asks for a ride, but the more teens in the car the greater the accident risk and the liability. I think besides just knowing about paying for insurance, they need to know why the insurance is required in the first place, and that it doesn't cover everything. I am learning with my daughter that I can't assume she understands things like this. I guess if we don't explain it to them no one does!
Good luck with your new driver. :)

My daughter has to have a 3.5 gpa in order to have her license. Last semester she had a 3.499. I made sure to tell her that was not good enough to get it. (She could have had the 3.5, but chose not to turn in half her assignments for one class and got a C in the class. Had she tried, it would have been good enough.)

We get a Good Student discount, plus the insurance company has a defensive driving video that we can watch and take notes on how she is driving and get another discount.

My daughter does not have a job yet, but when she does, she will be expected to pay for gas. I will continue to pay her insurance and upkeep. I don't think that $20 a week is too much if they have a job. It will teach them budgeting.

we just got car insurance for our teen. He did over 100 hours of driving with us and passed the test perfectly, other than taking two moves to parallel park. We are getting a lower rate for grades. It has to be at least 3.0. It's $36 a month for insurance. Whatever our son earns in the month 1/3 of it goes to us. If it is more than $36 he's done paying us. What he earns varies. We give him a $20 gas card at the beginning of the month. He has several friend that is costs about $6 round trip to visit. We just have made really sure he got lots and lots of practice with us before we let him get his license. If he gets an accident, insurance will go up dramatically. Teen boys also pay higher insurance by the way. We do have 2 vehicles with 3 drivers. My advice, lots and lots of practice and put off the license as long as possible. In Michigan, once they hit level 2 they will mostly insist on them having insurance. He does have to have chores and school done before going on an long trips (more than 10 mins or so.)
Good luck,
S.

Well, my son had to get a job and earn money to buy a car first. We told him we would match what he could save. He saved up $1800. Before we let him buy the car, we told him he had to earn enough to pay the insurance on it ($120/mo) and pay for his own gas. He did this. He is now 18 and in college and he still pays for his own insurance and gas. We will give him $15 or 20 for his gas tank once in a while...just because. He has always been an excellent student and gets the discounts for it.
My daughter has her permit now and we will do it exactly the same way for her. They definitely are learning the value of a dollar and to work hard to get what you want. They are always amazed by how many of their friends get their cars/ins/gas handed to them and comment on how they are spoiled (they are definitely not jealous!)

When I was 16 and working, I paid for my own car insurance (taught me the value of money), before that I drove my parents car and they paid the insurance premium. You can always limit how often your teenager drives your car since you know the risk at that age and you are mentioning the grades, or you could determine if your teen is a "safe" driver and worth you paying the extra to have them drive your car. It also depends on the type of coverage you would get for adding that child.

When I was a teenager, I was expected to pay all expenses. If I wanted to drive I had to be responsible about it so all insurance, gas and maintenance (and I had to keep my grades up or my parents took the keys away). If it was one of my parents rigs, I just helped with costs of gas & maintenance but I was totally responsible for the insurance. If I couldn't afford it, oh, well. I didn't drive. I also had to save up to pay for my own car. I had a job and I didn't much drive my friends anywhere, especially if they couldn't give me a few bucks for gas since I was considered the "poor relation" among my friends.

Driving is a privilege, especially in this economy. If your teen wants to drive, they have to pay for it. If they can routinely drop $100 on clothing (I'm not saying your teen is that way) then why can't they afford to pay their own insurance premiums? Is that rate monthly or every six months? If it's every six months, help your teen pay the first premium but then expect them to save up money over the next several months so they can pay the next one on their own. If it's monthly, that's an ouch and I don't see how it's worth it. They should walk, take the bus or ride a bike. Just my 2 c.

Our daughter got a discount for good grades and for taking the course. All in all, about 15% discount.

Our insurance went from $875 each 6 months (2 cars) to $2000 each 6 months (3 cars) with no tickets, etc. I know our insurance is higher because we all drive high end Mercedes (07,08,10). Our deductibles are $1000.

We don't require her to pay for gas or insurance. She does have to keep her car very clean, it is in perfect condition with no knicks, etc. She does have 3 families we babysits for regularly and gets paid well. She buys her clothes, etc.

Now, if her grades were to plummet, and if we need to discipline, we take the keys to the car, she does not drive to school or anywhere else.

Just because she is well provided does not make her spoiled as I have heard people say. She appreciates the fact that her parents take responsibility for her and provide well. There are some jealous kids at school. Maybe if they held up their end of the bargin of working and maintaining good grades instead of feeding envy, they'd have a good car (as well as other things) as well.

When I bought my first car, I had to pay for all expenses and I had 3 jobs through college.

My son will be 16 at the end of June and my ex husband and I agree that there will be no driver's license if he doesn't have good grades. He will be expected to work to pay for his own gas and part of the insurance.
He chops wood and does lawn work so the working part isn't a problem. He's a hard worker. But.....his grades are the most important and he knows it.
There is nothing that says we have to get him a license and he can get one on his own when he's 18 if he doesn't follow the rules. It's just that simple.
The privelege of driving is a huge incentive that I think some parents miss the mark on.
Insurance IS expensive! Why shouldn't kids know that? Auto registration IS expensive! Driver license fees....
Sometimes kids don't have any clue and then we wonder why they aren't able to be independent when the shock hits them that everything they have and enjoy has to be paid for.
$80 dollars a month comes down to $20 per week. Why is it unfair for a kid to find ways to earn that? Why is it unfair for a kid to work to earn gas money?

This is just my personal opinion.

Well my husband and I both had to work and pay for our own gas and at least part of insurance. *And I learned very quickly, that I wasn't too cool to ride the bus otherwise it was costing me money because my friends never seemed to have money to pitch in for gas! ;)

Now having said that, we have a 20 year old boy and 16 year old girl and my husband and I look at things a little different. We did not and do not make our kids pay for their gas or insurance as long as they are in high school. We feel their job is to be a student first and especially since they were/are in a private, college-prep school. We also gave them an allowance every month. But out of that allowance (and it's not a huge amount) they do have to pay for their gas, any oil-changes and that is their spending money. If they have more month than money at the end, too bad. Mommy drives them to school and they don't get to go to the movies.

They also did not get brand new cars. Our 16 year old is now driving the car my husband drove and then son drove. It is a 2001 Impala with almost 120,000 miles. When our son went to college and moved out, he did buy his own car a 1999 Dodge Ram with over 150,000 miles.

As far as people riding in the cars, we did not allow them to have anyone in the car with them for at least 3 months. Even though they are good, safe, responsible drivers - just that split-second distraction could be deadly!

And driving is not an automatic right. One of my nephews turned 16 last month and still is not driving because his parents don't feel he has shown the maturity needed. And by maturity it is taking responsibility for homework and grades. They have made it clear that until his grades come up (I don't know what they are) he is not driving.

I had to get my own insurance and pay for it myself. Plus pay for the gas and repairs and everything else that goes with having a car.