Earning a driver’s license and starting to drive regularly is a major milestone in a young person’s life. It brings a lot of new freedom and flexibility, and also imposes a big new responsibility that you have to learn how to balance and navigate. On top of driving safely and responsibly and taking care of a vehicle, managing auto insurance is a major part of driving. If you’re a young person who’s just starting to drive, you might be wondering if car insurance is an expense that you’re going to have to start planning for, or if your parents or guardians’ plan will cover you. Or, you may have been driving for several years, but you’re curious if you’re still eligible to be covered by your parents’ insurance. To answer these questions, let’s take a quick look at the requirements for being covered by someone else’s auto insurance!
Living With Your Parents
As a general rule of thumb, you’re eligible to be covered by your parent’s car insurance if you’re living in their home. Your parents will need to add you as a covered driver to their policy and alert their insurance company to the change. There will likely be some questions that the company wants answered about you, and your parent’s insurance premiums may change as a result of adding a new driver, especially a teenager, but if you live with them, you’ll most likely be eligible.
Going to College
If you’re planning to go away to college instead of commuting, you’ll no longer be living with your parents for part of the year. However, most insurance companies account for this and will continue to allow you to stay on your parent’s policy while you’re away at school. However, once you move into your own place, you’ll need to get your own auto insurance policy as you won’t be eligible once your permanent residence is no longer with your parents.
Age Limits
You may know that you’re only eligible to stay on your parents’ health insurance until you’re 26 years old, at which point you’ll be kicked off and have to either find your own health insurance plan or go uninsured. The good news is, this rule does not apply to auto insurance! No matter your age, if your permanent residence is at your parent’s home, you can continue to be covered by your policy. If you’re living at home, there may come a time when it simply makes more financial sense for both you and your parents for you to have a policy of your own, but that’s a decision for you to make as a family when the time comes. Until then, you don’t need to worry about being automatically kicked off at a certain age.
Car Owners
There is one exception to the rule that if you live with your parents, you’re qualified for your insurance. In some states, the official owner of a car must hold their own insurance policy, so if your car was purchased by you and is registered in your own name, you have to have your own auto insurance, no matter where you’re living. This isn’t the case everywhere, but if you’re planning on buying a car on your own rather than driving a car that is officially owned by your parents, it’s worth looking into whether or not this will apply to you.
For help figuring out whether you’ll be able to stay on your parent’s auto insurance or if you’ll need your own, you can turn to a reliable insurance company like YMI for guidance and information! Please don’t hesitate to contact us to talk about auto insurance as a new driver, or any other questions you might have!
