-
May 02, 2016As a parent of a teenager, you
have so many concerns; foremost is your child’s safety and wellbeing. The
Nevada Division of Insurance would like to help provide you information on one
important teen milestone; teen driving. Your kid has just obtained a
driver’s license, now what? Before you hand the keys to your teen to drive
themselves to school, the Division of Insurance encourages parents to review
the tips and tools found on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners
(NAIC) Insurance 101 for Parents & Teen Drivers website at http://www.insureuonline.org/insureu_special_teendriving.htm.
“If you are about to have a teen
driver in your household you should discuss your changing insurance needs with
your insurance agent. While statistics show that due to higher accident
rate and increased claim payments associated with teen driving, there are
corresponding increases in premiums. However, there are steps
parents can take to protect their children while also controlling the premium
costs.” said Insurance Commissioner Barbara Richardson. “Most auto insurance
companies offer discounts such as the ‘Good Student’ discount which could save
from 10 to 20 percent if your student maintains a ‘B’ grade or better average.”
Consumers may also qualify for a
discount if the student takes and completes a driver education course most
often offered through their school. Some insurers also offer driver training
courses for teenage drivers.
It is the parent’s responsibility
as a policy holder to notify your insurance carrier once your child is a
licensed driver even if your newly licensed teen is not expected to drive or is
a student at a college away from home. Failing to disclose this information to
your insurance company may result in the denial of a claim if an accident
occurs and/or your insurance policy may get canceled.
An auto insurance policy typically provides coverage for the
named policyholder and all household members or resident relatives with a
driver’s license. All household members must be disclosed to the insurance company
who may track the names and ages of all household members. The policy holders
need to disclose any changes in their household so that the underwriter can
properly assess the risk and accurately rate their premiums and to ensure that
all household members receive proper coverage.
There are many free resources
available to parents to help teen drivers get smart about insurance. On the
Insurance 101 for Teen Drivers website the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners (NAIC) is providing a new interactive classroom presentation
aimed to help parents and educators show teen drivers how being careless behind
the wheel can hurt financially as well as physically. The 55-minute
presentation has three parts which include; defining basic insurance terms, a
demonstration of how to request an insurance quote, and an interactive "It's Your Choice"
insurance-smart decision making game. To download this information you may
visit http://teendrivers.insureuonline.org/
Additional online information can
be found on the Insurance Division’s website at http://doi.nv.gov/Consumers/Automobile-Insurance/
. There is also an auto insurance guide for consumers that can be found
at (http://doi.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/doinvgov/_public-documents/News-Notes/Auto_Guide.pdf)
and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles has a webpage dedicated to Nevada’s
teen driving laws at http://dmvnv.com/teens.
###