Auto insurance for kids at service academies.

glj104

glj104

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Mar 1, 2019
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169
What is the best way to go considering the infrequency of my DS actually driving over the next 4+ years. Any advice would be helpful. I have already changed him to an "infrequent" driver, but that didn't save much money.
 
We use State Farm. I called the agent, explained the situation, was switched to something like a “driver away at school” policy and gained significant savings. Don’t know what other companies offer, but when in doubt, I opt to speak to a live person rather than rely on formulaic options found online.
 
not all insurance companies have the driver away at school. When my kids when to college, i would take them off the policy when they were gone and put them on when they came back. With the kids coming home several times a year, i was putting them on and off many times. The trick is to remember to do so. This of course only works if the student doesnt drive while away at school.
 
Though DD won’t have a car with her for 2/C year, she’ll be one of the designated drivers for her club sport team. That will entail road trips up and down the eastern seaboard, from Buffalo to Lynchburg, so glad she’s also insured for that. I’m sure USNA has its own coverage for this sort of thing, but I like the peace of mind of our own policy too.
 
DD's very limited opportunity to drive over her Plebe, C3, and C2 allowed us to move her to an "occasional driver" status with our insurance company; took her Ins Exp down to almost zip. When she got a car in her 1c year she got her own insurance policy.
 
With Progressive, it was a wash between keeping DS on our policy and getting him his own with USAA. We opted to keep him on ours because of the better coverage. We will reevaluate when he becomes a 2C and can take his vehicle to campus.
 
State Farm put DS in an "inactive " status on our policy for most of the year. If he drove our vehicle during 3 week summer break, we simply paid the full amount for 30 days, then he was returned to "inactive" status.
 
Great advice above and something that I didn't even consider. Thanks again to SAF for the ongoing education.📚
 
USAA. The USAA coverage for service academy students is different than those at a "regular" school. There are a number of threads on this forum about it. But, USAA knows the academies and has tailored a program specific for academy cadets/mids. (Not an employee of USAA :) )
 
In most cases if a child doesn't take their car and is more than 100 miles from home then insurance companies will give discounts.
 
What you have to keep in mind is that your child is no longer your child. They are not a dependent and do not live with you. With USAA we removed DD from our policy. She is covered the few weeks she is home through the year just like your brother would be if he borrowed your car this weekend.
 
The average cost for teenage car insurance is about $430-$450 per month for an individual policy or $225-$300 per month as an add-on to a parent's policy. Even among teenagers, age is a big factor in the cost of car insurance. The younger the driver, the more expensive the insurance.
 
I think a lot of these questions have state-specific answers.
Just be aware of what yours allows/prohibits.
 
TONSSS of discussion about this. I removed my older guy, and saved substantially. Fast forward to my plebe and when I called about him? I actually was required to sign a form that he is a “specifically excluded driver” or similar, as he had an accident within xx years.

My point, is to talk to someone and ask questions. Our own policy was managed differently for our two boys, within the same request. Geico in our case.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer here. I was so surprised that was the case, within our own policy.
 
USMA 1994 said:
What you have to keep in mind is that your child is no longer your child. They are not a dependent and do not live with you. With USAA we removed DD from our policy. She is covered the few weeks she is home through the year just like your brother would be if he borrowed your car this weekend.
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Same here. Geico advised us to remove our plebe son from our policy since he would be home only a few weeks per year at Christmas and summer break. They said he would still be covered during his vacation periods at home with us.
 
justdoit19 said:
TONSSS of discussion about this. I removed my older guy, and saved substantially. Fast forward to my plebe and when I called about him? I actually was required to sign a form that he is a “specifically excluded driver” or similar, as he had an accident within xx years.

My point, is to talk to someone and ask questions. Our own policy was managed differently for our two boys, within the same request. Geico in our case.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer here. I was so surprised that was the case, within our own policy.
Click to expand...
We have Geico and called regarding removing my son. The price reduction they offered was negligible. I think we will be changing insurance companies shortly.
 
sanman said:
We have Geico and called regarding removing my son. The price reduction they offered was negligible. I think we will be changing insurance companies shortly.
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At first they wanted to put either son on something like ‘away at school’. And not much of a savings. When I inquired further, saying ‘military’ and ‘won’t drive except when home for leave’, it was a significant adjustment. And I also clarified he/we are completely covered when he does drive occasionally. I had to clarify further. Maybe try again? I even just this morning thought of saving more, by putting his car in a ‘garage only’ status.
 
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Old thread, but still very relevant.

Several months ago (November I think) we got a letter from State Farm asking us to resubmit College Transcripts so that we could continue to get the good student discount for our 3C daughter who is still on our policy. I immediately called our State Farm agent in Leesburg Va to tell them that she rarely drives and that she is Active Duty military as well while she is at the Naval Academy. I told them that I am not going to bother my daughter for Transcripts. They said they would look into other options.

Well, I never heard back from them, so I called them today and they told me she is still on the policy, but she is listed as an “infrequent driver” or whatever, and that we pay nothing for her to be on our Home and Auto policy.

So I would say most insurance companies do understand the SAs and they can make exceptions and/or accommodations for their member policy holders.
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