Is It Time To Graduate Your Grad Off Your Car Insurance?

So your son or daughter has graduated. Is it time to kick them off your car insurance?  It all depends. Did they graduate from high school or from college? Will your son or daughter still be living with you?

As a rule of thumb, as long as your adult child is still a student and under age 25 they are still considered a household member and can remain on your car insurance. However, there is always something important to keep in mind: who is the registered  owner of the vehicle?

If  the vehicle is registered only in your new grad’s name then you will most likely not be able to insure their car on your car insurance. Why should this matter? Because you need an insurable interest in something to insure it. For example, you can’t insure your neighbor’s house because you don’t have an insurable interest in something you don’t own.

Here is another scenario. Your car breaks down and your aunt says “Use my extra vehicle, you will just need to call your agent and have them put my car on your car insurance policy.” So you borrow the car and start a policy, or you think you have started a policy. All is good until the emergency brake malfunctions or maybe you just didn’t set it right. OOPS! The car rolls into the neighboring apartment building. Who do you think is responsible for all the damages? Your car insurance  is probably not going to pay for the damages. In Washington state the registered owner is financially responsible for what happens with their car. Meaning your aunt is liable for all of the damage that has been done because HER car rolled down the hill. The problem is that she stopped insuring the car because you were insuring it. OOPS, again! To make things even worse,  now she receives another bill in the mail with a violation she doesn’t know anything about AND a photo of you coasting through a red light. All of these problems could have been prevented if your aunt had made you the registered owner so that you were legally responsible for the car and therefore could legally add your car insurance in Renton to cover your car.

The lesson is this: do not put Renton car insurance on a car you are not the registered owner of because the insurance company will likely deny coverage. Always talk to your agent about your specific circumstances.  Some companies do allow everyone in the household to insure their vehicles on the same policy by allowing multiple named insureds on the same policy.

Next week’s blog will discuss the pros and cons of making your grad (who is a household member) the registered owner of their own car and getting their own car insurance in Renton.

We will also discuss whether you should remove a grad that is going off to college without a vehicle.