My 17 year old's son, is going to cost us more than $5000 a year! It's absolutely ridiculous the price of insurance.

That is quite ridiculous! What is he driving and how much of that is the high cost (normal?) CA penalty?

We pay approx. $1600/yr for my now 20 YO son's portion of the auto insurance bill here in NH. That cost is for Full Coverage w/ typical low deductibles ($100 Comp., $500 Collision) on a 10+ YO Volvo. He has ZERO violations and I'm told he can expect a rate reduction when he turns 21, and then another at 25.

Look into Allstate Milewise....You can get the same coverage. Yes, you pay by the mile. But depending on how much the driver drives, it could work out for.

Oh - almost forgot. Some insurance companies give a 10% discount for taking a "Self Defense driving" course. Some give discounts for straight A's, and for taking Drives Ed.

On one hand, I sympathize. I still have family in CA and I know the rates are insane as a "baseline." God help you with a teenage boy on your policy.

(On the other hand, I can tell you with precision the day I first drove 100mph. It was the day after I got my license, so in my particular case the insurance company would've been correct.)

Echo the "See about a Defensive Driving Discount," maybe coupled with a "Good Student" discount. The latter gives your son strong incentive to bring in grades, if more incentive is ever needed.

quote:

Originally posted by davetruong:
My 17 year old's son, is going to cost us more than $5000 a year! It's absolutely ridiculous the price of insurance.

Dumb question but have you shopped around and asked for quotes from multiple insurance companies? Rates can vary wildly from one company to another so it pays to check around. When I thought of adding a third motorcycle to my stable of bikes I used an insurance broker who did all the leg work for me and found the best rates so maybe an option you can explore. I'd contact your insurance and find out if there are any classes or courses your kid can take to reduce the amount you have to pay to add him to your policy.

[quote]That is quite ridiculous! What is he driving and how much of that is the high cost (normal?) CA penalty?

We pay approx. $1600/yr for my now 20 YO son's portion of the auto insurance bill here in NH. That cost is for Full Coverage w/ typical low deductibles ($100 Comp., $500 Collision) on a 10+ YO Volvo. He has ZERO violations and I'm told he can expect a rate reduction when he turns 21, and then another.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
sHOULD HAVE HAD DAUGHTERS. Of course one prom dress wipes out the savings.

Yoooo, $420 a month is *a lot* of Ubers.

Why not have him get his license--then name him as an excluded driver on your policy (and make sure he DOES NOT drive any of your cars), and just give him the $420 a month to spend on Ubers/Lyfts.

After he's had his license for 3 years, his rates should drop. "Experience" goes by years licensed, not miles driven, right?

Been a while since I had teens on my insurance. Back then it was cheaper to get the kid a an old beater and put PL & pd insurance on it.

It's not just teenagers these days.

My car insurance went up 32% on the latest renewal this month ($186 to $245), despite no claims and a clean driving record. Been with the company for 23 years. Agent couldn't articulate a specific reason for the increase other than "everything's going up".

You know this already, but the insurance industry, especially California, is taking a beating and thus the public is getting royally screwed and tattooed as well.

Some insurance companies are no longer writing new home owner policies. If you currently have home owners insurance you're still ok, at least you have home owners insurance. The cost is still very high.

I have family in San Diego, LA, Palm Springs, and Sacramento. They're raising a stink because of the fewer choices for home insurance coverage due to fewer and fewer companies offering it, and they expect the costs to go up due to less competition.

It's already awful, and BOHICA is on the horizona for everyone. (Bohica is Bend over here it comes again.)

Sister in Palm Springs pays something like 48 cents per kilowatt hour. Here in OKC it's about 11 cents per kilowatt hour. BOHICA.
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quote:

Originally posted by davetruong:
It's absolutely ridiculous the price of insurance.

This is an exact quote of my Dad 50 years ago. He made me get my own policy.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Yoooo, $420 a month is *a lot* of Ubers.

Why not have him get his license--then name him as an excluded driver on your policy (and make sure he DOES NOT drive any of your cars), and just give him the $420 a month to spend on Ubers/Lyfts.

After he's had his license for 3 years, his rates should drop. "Experience" goes by years licensed, not miles driven, right?

When my daughter turned 16 my rates went up automatically. My agent said it did not matter whether she was licensed or not -just that she was in the house. Seems kids do not care about little things like being licensed and use/wreck vehicles anyway and insurance ends up having to pay.

Have a friend who when looking to purchase a performance model Dodge Charger that his car insurance would take a drastic increase just because he had a son and daughter who would be able to get their drivers license in about 6 months... All that mattered was that they lived under the same roof as my friend............................... drill sgt.

My son is costing me $600/year for liability coverage on a 99 S10. And I haven't even seen what it did to my other three auto policies yet

My two sons are now 53 and 51 so I haven't dealt with such issues for a long time. Back then I gave each son a used car, he could drive it when he showed me a valid license plate and insurance policy, otherwise it had to remain parked. Also responsible for every drop of gasoline and every dime of maintenance.

Meanwhile, the kids were named as excluded drivers on the family auto policy.

They each learned how much it costs to have and operate a vehicle by paying it all out of their pockets. The car was a gift that kept on giving.

I Bought in my name for my 16 year old son to drive, a 99 F150. 2wd. It has a few hundred thousand miles and cost $1000. (Spent another $700 or so doing new brakes drums and rotors and pads all around and wheel bearings and changing all fluids, new light bulbs, and plugs and wires, so it’s pretty reliable and stops good)

He understands there is no such thing as “full coverage” on that roach, so if there’s an accident he’s at fault he’s getting nothing and if he gets hit he’s getting peanuts for blue book value from whoever hits him. Prior carrier USAA wanted 2k just to add liability (300/500k and add him to my 1mm umbrella) for 6 months ! That was a non starter.
We went to an insurance broker and got same coverages through another carrier for $700 for 6 months for the truck. Ans a bit cheaper on my Tacoma and wife’s 4runner. So win win. And he has to maintain a 3.0 grade average. The agent showed him how much more will be if he does not have a 3.0 grade average.


Regarding a hot car. While we were in her office I said go to any Ford dealer website and grab a. VIN for a 2024 GT and plug it in for me for a quote. For me (50 year old ~34years licensed and good record) with great credit etc it was nominal. For full coverage it was gonna be an extra few hundred per 6 months. As a 4th car. This new carrier did not offer ability to exclude drivers. Was shocked how cheap it was going to be.

It's the same with "aged" drivers as well. My 86 year old mom recently purchased a car for her Florida residence.
Over $3650 a year. $10 a day for freaking insurance.
Some of it is State Driven (pun intended) based on local legal climate.
I worked in the insurance industry on the commercial side. Those are "for profit" organizations. But most don't understand that rates are going to be based on legal liability claims and the cost to repair more and more technology (costly to repair) oriented vehicles.
Airbags, back up cameras, intelligent driving assist technology. All make it safer but when an accident does happen they tend to drive the cost of repair way up there.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:

When my daughter turned 16 my rates went up automatically. My agent said it did not matter whether she was licensed or not -just that she was in the house. Seems kids do not care about little things like being licensed and use/wreck vehicles anyway and insurance ends up having to pay.

Same thing here. Maybe it's a Texas thing that they are allowed to get away with this shit. USAA called me one day after my daughter turned 16 and said "we notice you have a new driver in your household. She must be added to the policy." I protested but they wouldn't budge. Our premiums doubled. Thankfully now she's almost 22 and has her own policy.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
It's not just teenagers these days.

My car insurance went up 32% on the latest renewal this month ($186 to $245), despite no claims and a clean driving record. Been with the company for 23 years. Agent couldn't articulate a specific reason for the increase other than "everything's going up".

This was our experience as well within the last year. No tickets or accidents, and a “that’s the way it is” from Allstate. After checking for quotes from other reputable local insurance, it seems across the board. Used to be simply checking with another company almost guaranteed a lower rate. Not anymore it would seem.