Auto Insurance 101 for Teen Drivers

- May 02, 2016

As 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

 

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Contact

Yeraldin Deavila
DOI PIO
(775) 687-0772