Comments on: Auto Insurance is Double for Teens of Divorced Single Parents

By: Regina O. Conner

Regina O. Conner — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:45:14 +0000

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By: dadshouse

dadshouse — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:35:25 +0000

Quick followup – the inurance commissioner’s office is investigating. This prompted my insurance company headquarters office to call me and try to address my concerns (i.e. get the insurance commissioner off their back.)

They explained that my daughter is rated as an occasional driver, meaning she has less than 5 years experience and uses the car less than 25% of the time. They agreed that since she’s with me only half time she would benefit from a different categorization, say for drivers using the car less than 10% of the time, but no such categorization exists.

Their advice for me to save money: take her off the policy and hope she doesn’t get in an accident! WTF!

Problem is, legally, all California drivers have to be insured. And taking her off the policy doesn’t seem smart, anyways, because accidents can happen.

I’ll update more when I hear back from the insurance commissioner’s office.

By: Cathouse Teri

Cathouse Teri — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:22:33 +0000

Dad, it’s not a matter of mom and dad living in the same house or not. It’s a matter of daughter living in two houses, where there are two cars. Two addresses. Two cars. Two policies.

By: dadshouse

dadshouse — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:39:58 +0000

Teri – yes, either they charge me half, or cover both cars.

When the mom and dad are in the same house, the teen driver gets added to one car as the primary driver. However, on occasions when that car is not available, the teen can drive the other car, no problem. They are covered, and the rate does not change.

So in effect, the teen has access to two cars for the price of one. In our situation, they have access to two cars for the price of two. Totally unfair.

LiteralDan – my ex is not helping with the cost to insure our daughter on my car, because she is forced to pay the cost to insure her on her own car. It sucks.

I’ll let you all know what the insurance commissioner says. My daughter can’t be in two places at once. She can’t drive two cars at the same time. Insurance is ripping us off.

By: Cathouse Teri

Cathouse Teri — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:45:26 +0000

Also, it is my understanding that if you own two vehicles, ANY licensed drivers in the household must be insured on those vehicles if they are going to drive them at all. Under any circumstances. If it were the case that you could call one vehicle “primary” and the other “secondary” and then only insure her on the “primary” vehicle ~ then she drives the “secondary” vehicle almost all the time, because you are using the “primary” vehicle and it’s, as you say, “not available,” she would be basically insured for free on that vehicle.

The insurance company is totally right about saying she has access to the vehicle 24/7. It’s the only way they can see it. What would you have them do? Ask you for a weekly schedule on the days she will be at your house, and then not insure her on the other days, when she is supposed to be with her mother? That makes no sense at all.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I think insurance companies f*&king SUCK the big one! I hate, hate, hate the insurance business. It is designed to SCREW everyone. (yeah, I feel strongly about it) But we choose to play the game, and there are only so many ways you can play it. You simply cannot expect insurance companies (or anyone, for that matter) to conform to the situation you are in.

By: LiteralDan

LiteralDan — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:29:15 +0000

It seems like in California of all places, where everything seems to be cutting-edge, they would be all over a way to make this work. I’m not foolish enough to suggest that an insurance company would voluntarily do ANYthing in their customers’ interests that wasn’t first in their financial interests, but that customers statewide would demand it, and they would be forced to be suddenly struck with a good idea of fixing the problem. There are enough people, and consequently enough divorced people, in California to make this happen.

I hope that your wife is at least helping with the cost, along with your daughter herself, of course.

By: Cathouse Teri

Cathouse Teri — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:23:48 +0000

Okay, you’re kidding, right? You seriously think they should only make you pay half because she only lives with you half the time? Do you realize how problematic that policy would be??