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Contact this writerSpeaking from the perspective of a once was very recently a teen, I appreciate that my parents, well parent in this case, always made me pay for my own expenses, including car insurance. He never handed me anything. I remember once he moved my entire room out into the yard because I was too busy with "important" high school things to do my chores. I feel too many parents these days fail to prepare their children for real life. My father made damn sure I knew, life was expensive, work ethic mattered, and I was going to have to pay for it one way or another if I want to stay alive, and I couldn't thank him more.
Sure, car insurance is very expensive, more so for younger people, males in particular. But first, it teaches them responsibility. The two hundred dollar coat that it is just soo cool, and "in" with the popular kids is less cool, when the real worth of money sets in. The best way to do that is to take it from your own pocket. Driving is a privilege not a right. If a teen doesn't want to work to obtain what they want (in this case a car to drive about in) then they don't deserve it.
I manage at a local restruant and I see a lot of younger people today who think having a job is the same as earning a pay check. I hear a lot of those same people complain about their parents and how they won't let them do this or that, and then the next day are holding conversations about the new car mom just bought them, and I know that car included the insurance and took a lot more of their parents hard earned money than they received in hard appreciation back. I think that really is sad, and it could changed by simple steps like making the kid pay for his/her own unnecessary things. Car insurance and wheels is not food in your belly, you don't "need" it. it's not neglect not to provide it.
Second, teens are less likely to wreck vehicles and get in accidents from careless, unconcerned driving if the cost of that vehicle, insurance and all, comes from their pay check not yours. "it's going to cost me, I'm going to be careful".
Plus, personally I always derived a sort of pride in being able to say, "Hey, I may be young, and have nice things, but nobody handed me any of this. I earned it, it's mine and I deserve it." I don't feel I ever would have found such an addiction for the pleasure of independence if my parents had paid for everything for me, right down to my car insurance.
Top "Teens" articles on:
Teens and car insurance: Who should pay?-
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Speaking from the perspective of a once was very recently a teen, I appreciate that my parents, well parent in this c...read more
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If you are responsible enough to drive it, you can help foot the bill. Car insurance is a requirement to drive. ...read more
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Besides being a member of Helium, I also belong to an automotive enthusiast site dedicated specifically to Volkswagens. I am considerably older than many of the other enthusiasts on the discussion boards, and when I read what some of these teens (and even those under 25 years of age) are paying for auto insurance, it makes me want to clutch my chest like Redd Foxx used to do on the Sanford and Son TV show. See, I told you I was old!
At any rate, these kids' monthly insurance premiums quite often exceed the car payment itself! While it is well known that younger drivers; especially those of the male gender, are at a higher risk for accidents, it is at the same time absurd for insurance companies to charge the grossly exorbitant premiums that they do. Some of these guys are paying upwards of $400 every month for one car while I pay about $1000 a year for three vehicles! This is simply unfair. Even if a teenager has a part-time job that complements his school schedule and otherwise lives for free under Mom and Dad's roof, these rates are way out of line.
Back in the 1970's, when I was in my teens, we did it the easy way: I more or less inherited a hand-me-down car. My father already had a multiple-vehicle discount on his premiums. When I obtained my license, he simply added me as a driver. Most of my peers had to pay for their own insurance with what little money they had; and it was considerably more expensive than my added-on coverage. Everything cost less in those days, but the relative ratio of insurance rates for teens with policies in their own name as opposed to being under a parent's name was more or less the same as it is today.
Teaching the virtues of responsibility to teens is a parent's obligation, but only up to a point. In my particular case, as an example, fines for traffic violations came out of my pocket. In regard to insurance premiums; however, the younger drivers in the family should get a break. Teens still living at home who have not yet ventured out into the world should not be forced to pay ridiculously high auto insurance premiums for simply having the misfortune of being born later than those who pay less. Moreover, one would have to be a fool to put a policy in the sole name of the minor when hundreds and even thousands of dollars could be saved simply by doing what my father and I did three decades ago.
To summarize, I feel that making your teen pay for his/her own auto insurance would be akin to requiring that they pay for their own braces, piano lessons, dance school, soccer league registration, etc. It's just something that's not done.
Until our kids reach legal age and leave home, it remains our responsibility as parents to support them. Auto insurance is just one of the many expenses we will incur while raising them.
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Teens and car insurance: Who should pay?-
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Besides being a member of Helium, I also belong to an automotive enthusiast site dedicated specifically to Volkswagen...read more
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Angela Young's article on this topic here on Helium strikes a chord with me, and I'm sure it does with other parents....read more
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