The Best Car Insurance For Students: Staying On The Parents Plan

As you begin living preparations for the school year ahead (thank goodness you have a few extra months to plan this summer), one of the questions you might be asking yourself is what is the best car insurance for students? Now that you finally get to bring your car to campus, your parents are expressing concern about your coverage. Because you were away and without your car for the first year of college, they decreased the limits on your policy, and increasing them again is going to cost money. They’ve begun playing with the idea of making you get your own coverage plan. To help convince your parents that staying on their plan is best for everyone, use these game changing arguments!

The Family Auto Insurance Plan

Unlike with health insurance, which kicks the policyholder’s dependents off at age 26, an auto insurance policy does not remove anyone from the plan based on age. Instead, the family auto insurance coverage plan protects all those who are part of the same household. In providing coverage for the household, your parents can get discounts. A majority of insurance agencies offer discounts to policyholders when they insure multiple motorists and vehicles. While your parents may think they’re being charged more to have you on their policy, they’re really not—you’re getting them a discount! And if you’re a good student with a superb driving record, even more discounts will ensue. So if anything, you’re actually saving your parents money.

Preparing for Your Future

While protecting multiple people on a policy is more expensive than insuring just one individual, adding or keeping a young driver on the plan helps them to get better, more affordable coverage once they are able to get on their own plan. How does this work? One of the questions insurance companies ask prospective clients is if they’ve had car insurance before. If the answer is no, the driver is labeled at risk. A majority of states across the U.S. require practicing drivers to carry car insurance. If they do not or have not carried car insurance prior to signing up for a new plan, they are deemed an irresponsible driver. An at risk motorist is seen as unreliable and as more likely to file an insurance claim. To protect themselves from financial loss, the insurance company will charge their client more in premiums. Ask your parents if they are really willing to cut you out of being a responsible driver and out of savings. Do they realize how tough the job market is for college grads? Don’t they want to see you be successful? Having you on their insurance plan until you can get one of your own will help you save money in the future too!

Kicked Out of the Nest

Unfortunately, you can’t stay on our parents’ auto insurance plan forever. There are five determining factors that cancel your claim to the policy:

You are financially independent: You live in your own apartment and pay all of your own bills without financial help from mom and dad.

Car accidents: If you have consistently been involved in car accidents, be it fender benders or curb attacks, your insurer can take you off of the policy.

Marital status: Once you get married, you are considered as independent from your family, as you’re starting your own.

Living out of state: As mentioned earlier, you must have a car insurance plan issued from the state you are living in. If you live in a different state than your parents, then you have to get your own plan.

As you try to find the best car insurance for students, look no further than the family room. Click here to learn more about family auto insurance quotes!