When by daughter moves out and goes away to college do I still have to keep her insured on my car?

Question

My daughter will be going away to college (out-of-state) full-time and staying on-campus. She is currently insured full coverage on my automobile that she is the sole driver. Do I have to continue to keep her insured even though she will no longer be staying home and the car will be parked at home being she can't drive her freshmen year in college? Thanks.

Answer 1

Several of the answers already given have sound advice... and a few pieces of scary advice. I know something about this because of the company I work for, so here are a few important points:

1) If your daughter does not have insurance during the school year then she will most likely be considered "high risk" when she again gets insurance because of the period of no coverage. As a few people have already said, you should talk to the insurance company about what is the minimum coverage she can have (minimum from a cost perspective) during that period to avoid any ugly penalties when she starts driving again.

2) To see what the state required minimums for insurance are in any state, use this page (http://www.dmv.org/car-insurance.php) and scroll down to the middle of the page and click on your state.

3) If no one at all will drive the car you might want to check with your state DMV and see if there might be savings in registration expense by changing the status of the car to "non-operable". This link (http://www.dmv.org/dmv-phone-numbers.php) will let you get the contact number for any state DMV.

Answer 2

You should definitely keep your daughter on your policy. Your daughter still needs coverage if she ever borrows a friend's car. The good news is: If the car will be parked for a period of at least 30 days, you can ask your insurance company to suspend all coverage except Comprehensive on that vehicle...and Comp coverage is cheap! Also, your insurance company may offer a credit because your daughter is away at school and doesn't have daily access to the vehicle.

Answer 3

You can call your insurance company and explain to them exactly what you have said here. They will lower the cost of her insurance significantly since she will not be driving the car. However it is wise to keep her insurance "active" because if there is a break in her insurance coverage, the insurance company will question why there was a break. This may also allow her to drive the car during the summer months or when she comes home to visit.

Answer 4

It depends on the insurance company. There are many companies that offer an away at school discount. I know that travelers offers this discount.
Talk to your agent and find out what you can do. If your agent seems unsure, contact your company and let them know.
Almost all companies will not allow you to remove her from your policy unless you can prove she went out and got her own insurance.

Answer 5

Explain your situation to your insurance agent/company. You should still keep some type of insurance on the vehicle in case of natural disasters, fire, theft or other damage.

Answer 6

no, only if she's still in the home.. insurance companies do that in case your kids take the keys (or roommates).. if the car isnt gonna be driven at all and just parked (on your property) you dont have to have the ins, you may want to NOP it if it isnt gonna be used so they dont cancel your registration if your gonna cancel the insurance

Answer 7

if she isn't driving then there won't be a problem, but when she does start driving she is going to have to get her licensed changed and you cannot reside in one city and be insured in a different one.

Answer 8

Only if you love her. Bad mommy! BAD!!! WIRE HANGERS!! AAAHHHHHHHHH