Do You Have to Add a Teenage Driver to your Insurance?

In today’s blog, the experts at Grange Insurance Association discuss some of the most frequently asked questions about teen drivers and your Auto insurance.

Do You Have to Add a Teenage Driver to your Insurance?

Yes. If you have a teen driver in your home, they will need to be insured. The easiest way to do so is by adding them to your insurance policy.

Can a Teenager Get Their Own Car Insurance Policy?

If they have their own car, yes. However, this will be more expensive than adding them onto an existing policy.

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

It depends. If a teenager who lives in your home but is not explicitly included in your Auto insurance policy gets in an accident in your car, your insurance company will determine a course of action.

Outcome 1: Your Auto Accident Claim is Covered & Your Child is Added to the Policy

This is the ideal outcome for parents who had not added their child to the policy at the time of the accident, but it is not by any means guaranteed. Even if this does happen, your insurance premium will increase moving forward because of the child’s age and accident record.

Outcome 2: Your Auto Accident Claim is Covered but Your Policy is Not Renewed

While the first outcome is possible, it’s much more likely that your insurance company will pay the claim but set your policy to not renew once it expires. In this scenario, they will likely force the teenager onto the policy at the increased rate until the non-renewal takes effect.

Outcome 3: Your Insurance Company Denies the Claim

Your insurance company could deny the claim entirely, especially if they have reason to believe you intentionally withheld the information to obtain lower premiums. While in general, anyone who legally drives your car is protected by your Auto insurance, if the person in question (i.e. your teenager) lives in your home and regularly drives your car, you were responsible for disclosing that information to your insurance company. These cases, however, are not cut and dry, and if the insurance company denies your claim, you could fight this claim denial in court. That said, the judicial process is lengthy, expensive, and has no guaranteed outcome. While the court could rule that the insurance company either does or does not have to pay, there’s also a chance that the coverage applied may have lower limits that just meet financial responsibility requirements even though the policy itself has higher limits.

How Much Does It Cost to Add a 16-Year-Old to Car Insurance?

It depends. Generally speaking, teenagers are at a higher risk for car accidents, which means higher Auto insurance premiums. In fact, data suggests that adding a newly-licensed teenaged driver to your policy increases the premium by an average of 130-140%, depending on the state and your child’s accident record.

Why Choose Grange Insurance Association for your Auto Insurance?

There’s nothing more stressful than a car accident that involves your child. That’s why we do everything we can to make the claims process as efficient, compassionate, and painless as possible. This testimonial from one of our valued policyholders goes into greater detail about their experience filing a teen car accident claim through GIA.

Have more questions? Reach out to an independent insurance agent near you. In the meantime, check out our insurance blog where we cover everything from teen driver safety tips to how to lower your Car insurance premium.

The content available via Grange.com is for informational purposes only and may not be used for any other purpose. Content provided or expressed on Grange.com, including that of third parties, may not reflect Grange Insurance Association’s (GIA) policies or conform to any agreement you may have with GIA and its subsidiary companies. Please contact a licensed insurance agent to obtain particular advice.