Auto insurance question - this is crazy!!?

I also want to point out the reason why the insurance companies are so adamant about this. If you are allowed to remove your son from the policy and he drives the car without a license and caused an accident the insurance company is still required to pay the claim. From the company's standpoint your son is still a risk in the household with access to your vehicles.

Ditto on the driver exclusion. It's not worth it.

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In the state of Nevada (where I handle claims), even though someone is specifically excluded under the insurance policy, the insurance company must provide coverage up to at least the minimum limits. Case law has determined this is the situation, because the injured party is entitled to some benefit. Even if you son has no driver's license, he is still able to get into the car and drive it. The insurance company still has exposure.

Sorry, wish it could be a different answer, but if you were the person who was hit by your son, even as an excluded driver, you would be thankful some coverage was there.

They are sort of right.

They can list any operator in your home, even if his license is suspended.

What you CAN do, if the state allows it, is request he be EXCLUDED from your policy. That means, you sign a form, and NO MATTER WHAT, if he drives your car, no coverage. If he totals your car, no coverage. If he hits someone else, no coverage. YOU WILL WRITE THE CHECK. If he kills someone else, you will likely lose your house and could have your wages garnished for years. BUT, it will get him off the policy, and lower your premium. They won't take him back on again, either.

MANY MANY agents will NOT do an operator exclusion form - I personally have done a few, and about HALF THE TIME, the excluded operator DOES drive anyway, DOES get in an accident, and you are always on pins and needles about a lawsuit from the client (sure, I have the signed paperwork, but it's the defense costs and hassle factor) over the exclusion.

SO. YOu might have to shop around for another agent/policy to get the operator exclusion. But he'll come up as a suspended household member with ANY insurance company check, so you can't hide it from them.

There is a simple reason why they do this. Because many, many claims arise from unlicensed teenage drivers. If the kid lives in your household he is a driving risk, period. Trust me on this, I have handled dozens of claims arising from unlicensed kids driving their parents cars and causing an accident. The harsh reality is that not having a license does not keep kids from driving. If a car is available they will drive it at some point.

If you change companies they are going to do the same thing.

You're not going to be able to hide him.

If it is available you can do as mbrcatz17 suggested and see if a Excluded Driver endorsement is available in your state. However, you really do not want to do this as this leaves both you and the child open to owing for any accident he causes. I have seen claims where Excluded Drivers have caused thousands of dollars in damages and the parents are legally liable to pay the damages. Having the child excluded from your policy does NOT mean that you aren't legally liable for any damages they cause. Doing this is not a good idea just to save some money in the short term.

The best you can hope for is to find a company that will have lower rates while including the child in the rates.

Insurance companies make up their own rules, they can do whatever they want. I ran into the same problem with my daughter, but they allowed me to sign a waiver. This waiver stated that I would never allow my daughter to drive a Vehicle which we owned and that any accident she had would be our responsibility and the insurance would be cancelled. Ask your insurance company if there is a waiver you can sign? If not start calling different insurance companies, find out what their policies are on this and if they carry waivers. Change companies. Before you cancel the existing policy make sure you have your new insurance in place and active first. If you do not they will consider this a lapse in insurance and your rates will sky rocket and or cause a black mark and other companies will not insure you. This happened with my home owners insurance. Be prepared for a cancellation charge with the existing company. Personally, I hate insurance companies.

This is correct.

Insurance companies in the past did not rate every driver in the household, they would let you sign an affidavit stating that your son would not drive your cars.

This policy changed a few years ago as insurers began to have more and more claims being paid out on drivers who "Never drove the car". It was ruled that the insurers still had to pay out even on a driver who was not on the policy, so they now rate every driver in the household.

This is one of those rules where a few dishonest apples spoiled the bunch for the rest of us.

I can say from personal experience that kids do drive household cars when they have no license. I was hit by a kid driving his parents car while they were away from home. He came around a curve on the wrong side of the road and hit my brand new car and then took off. I turned around and found him parked in a drive way with the lights off. He had his foot on the brake and the brake lights were on, so he got caught. He told the police that he was practicing in the neighborhood. There was about $5000 worth of damage to my car. I think the insurance company is justified.

I don't really have an answer for you, but a similar situation. I am 22 years old, and still under my parents auto insurance. My younger brother, who is 17, and had just recieved his license, got into trouble BEFORE he had it, and it got it suspended (don't ask me how they can do that). So once he recieved his license, he had it for about a month, and then lost it. Our insurance company proceeded to drop the entire family! All because of something he did previous to getting his license.

Yes it is crazy, but insurance is a screw you business. All you can do now is change insurance companies and not mention you have a teenager in the house.