Auto insurance rates...

GemStateMom

5-Year Member
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Nov 4, 2010
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134
Just something to think about for parents who still have their contracted cadets on their auto policy. DS just contracted a short while ago, so I was just able to split him off of our auto insurance policy and put him on his own with a company that specializes in insurance for military members (not sure if I can mention names??), and ended up saving $1,000 per year by doing so. Transferred his renter's insurance to same company (for less premium and better coverage) and also received multi-policy discount. Do not have the vehicle in his name yet (will do that shortly) but it is not a necessity if vehicle is in parent's name (per agent on phone), but if you keep the vehicle in your name I would suggest you maintain high coverage levels to continue to protect your assets. Just something to take into consideration if you have a DS or DD that is contracted.
 
I'll mention it for ya.....USAA!!! Both my kids, one in school and one out have USAA for car insurance, renters insurance, Roth 401K, bank accounts, credit cards and a car loan!!
 
I'll mention it for ya.....USAA!!! Both my kids, one in school and one out have USAA for car insurance, renters insurance, Roth 401K, bank accounts, credit cards and a car loan!!
Wow, you sound like loyal customers! We also took out a student credit card with them with very low limit so DS can build his credit as he has no credit history.
 
Just looked it up and it says Advanced ROTC cadets (which must be the contracted part) and ROTC scholarship holders, so I suppose we should look into this. I know when my son is home this summer he is going to buy (yet another) car! We have 3 vehicles on our insurance right now and he is down as an occasional driver on one of them so not sure we could move one of those cars and save anything. We should look into the banking part too so he has the free ATM use.
 
Like you, it started with getting them off our car insurance and they saved BIG money. They were both offered that low limit ($500) Visa when they obtained the insurance and it's all grown from there.
 
I should also add that your child does not have to be contracted if the parent has an active USAA policy, so if mom or dad is active/former/retired military you can look into your own policy, and then would be able to split of DS or DD without them being contracted yet.
 
If as a USAA member you purchased a car seat for your child through USAA then your child already has a USAA number. My kids have had their numbers since they were two when we purchased the booster car seats through them.
~ I found that factoid out when we asked for a credit card on our AMEX account and they said oh XXXXX...his USAA number is..... HUH? When did that happen? It happened when you bought the booster car seat....that is why we asked for his name , birth date and SS. FYI, here are the USAA numbers for DD and DS2 for the next time you call.

I have been a USAA member for 26+ years. They are a good company, but like the other thread (starter loan), still shop around for quotes. When we lived in AK. we used All State for our homeowners insurance, but carried personal jewelry riders with USAA.

Our DD and DS2 that are not military have the ability to use all of their services like their brother that is military. Any of my grandchildren in decades from now will also be allowed to join because their parents are members.

It would be interesting to see what number those joining now are starting with. We were an 8, our kids range from 10 to 11. That was 20 years ago. I am betting the USAA ID number is now in the 5s at least.
 
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Re renter's insurance: when our son moved off campus, we called our insurance agent to find out about renter's insurance. He said that it was not necessary because as long as he's our dependent, then our home owner's covers him in a college/off-campus situation. Might be worth a phone to call to make sure that you're not paying for something unnecessarily.
 
I agree call your insurance company and check on what the personal property limits are especially for computers.
 
The deductible will be key. The HO policy will likely cover, but if it's small claims here and there, it won't be worth making the claim and you'll go out of pocket. Worth comparing with a low-deductible $3-$5k personal property/renter's policy that has a low monthly premium, discounted for military status.
 
I agree. We are really getting in the weeds now.

As a Realtor, I always advised the landlords that the renters provided proof of insurance. The reason why was due to the fact that they too had a deductible. If the cause was their fault...left a candle burning than in some states they had the right to go after the renter for the deductible.
~ That means Mom and Dad if they are on your policy you too are on the hook.

My USAA riders have no deductible, but they are riders.
~riders are different. It is for a specific item.
IE our DD inherited her grandmothers platinum diamond baget wedding band. That has a rider. Her laptop does not!
Our DSs roommate was tech savvy and his part time job to earn money was repairing laptops. If he was our DS than I would have placed a rider on computers.
Our DIL has photog equipment up the ying yang....one of her lenses that DS gave her was 500....key word 1!

If your child is like my DS2 with only a laptop than that is one thing, but if any of my examples apply....look at the fine print, even with USAA.
 
Just something to think about for parents who still have their contracted cadets on their auto policy. DS just contracted a short while ago, so I was just able to split him off of our auto insurance policy and put him on his own with a company that specializes in insurance for military members (not sure if I can mention names??), and ended up saving $1,000 per year by doing so. Transferred his renter's insurance to same company (for less premium and better coverage) and also received multi-policy discount. Do not have the vehicle in his name yet (will do that shortly) but it is not a necessity if vehicle is in parent's name (per agent on phone), but if you keep the vehicle in your name I would suggest you maintain high coverage levels to continue to protect your assets. Just something to take into consideration if you have a DS or DD that is contracted.

Please keep in mind every company's policy form will read differently. The bolded in the quote above may not always be true, in fact more ofter than not this will NOT be the case. Generally speaking one must have an insurable intrest ( ownership, mortgage holder or required by contract...) in what is being insured. In this case the son is insuring a vehicle that he does not own. In the scenerio above he may not meet the insurable interest thereshold to be able to place coverage on the car. A company may recognize the "special relationship" a parent has concerning a child and endorse the policy to waive the insurable interest provision in the policy but do not count on that. If possible it is alway advisable to have the insurance policy's named insured and the vehicle owner be one in the same so as to avoid any potential gaps in coverage. One last thing, Always get an umbrella policy.
 
Just something to think about for parents who still have their contracted cadets on their auto policy. DS just contracted a short while ago, so I was just able to split him off of our auto insurance policy and put him on his own with a company that specializes in insurance for military members (not sure if I can mention names??), and ended up saving $1,000 per year by doing so. Transferred his renter's insurance to same company (for less premium and better coverage) and also received multi-policy discount. Do not have the vehicle in his name yet (will do that shortly) but it is not a necessity if vehicle is in parent's name (per agent on phone), but if you keep the vehicle in your name I would suggest you maintain high coverage levels to continue to protect your assets. Just something to take into consideration if you have a DS or DD that is contracted.

Please keep in mind every company's policy form will read differently. The bolded in the quote above may not always be true, in fact more ofter than not this will NOT be the case. Generally speaking one must have an insurable intrest ( ownership, mortgage holder or required by contract...) in what is being insured. In this case the son is insuring a vehicle that he does not own. In the scenerio above he may not meet the insurable interest thereshold to be able to place coverage on the car. A company may recognize the "special relationship" a parent has concerning a child and endorse the policy to waive the insurable interest provision in the policy but do not count on that. If possible it is alway advisable to have the insurance policy's named insured and the vehicle owner be one in the same so as to avoid any potential gaps in coverage. One last thing, Always get an umbrella policy.

I agree it is very important to verify this info. I was specifically referring to the one company I spoke with, and was very surprised to hear this regarding being able to insure the vehicle without the insurable interest, as I used to be an insurance agent and was taught you couldn't insure something you didn't own!
 
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