<p>Does anyone remember the thread ages ago on trying to un-insure a kid going to college?</p>
<p>We are in NY and he is going to LA. Not even sure if he will intern out there for the summer or come back here. When my husband just called to ask that he get removed from our car's policy (he shares my car) They got a bit flustered and said they will call us back. They wanted us to take a "student" policy, but my son won't be driving at all for a good while. Obviously we can use the $$ that our expensive NY policy charges.</p>
<p>some insurance companies require that all drivers be insured on all cars.
However- if someone is physically away- there should be some way to remove them from policy- you may need to change ins companies if your company requires everyone to be insured on all cars like our company does</p>
<p>The rules are different in different states. When our S went to college out of state (100+ miles), we contacted our insurance agent. In ours (MA), we could take our S off our insurance when he was away. When he was due to return home, we would contact the insurance agent, and S would be put back on our insurance for the duration of his stay, be it a few days, weeks, of the summer vacation. There were some forms to be signed, and they were usually faxed, so turn around time was very quick. So the insurance was adjusted to reflect the amount of time he would actually be expected to drive.
Hope this helps with your insurance!</p>
<p>Ours is similar to marite's....except we got a flat discount for S being away at least a certain number of months (I think it was something like 6 or 7 months) per year....didn't even have to call and let them know when he was coming home. The savings was something around $400 per year.</p>
<p>As I recall, he had to be a minimum number of miles from home (to prevent the coming home and driving every weekend, I'd guess), but ebay - I think you've got that covered!</p>
<p>"Warning:" A driver going for a period of time w/out insurance means VERY high rates when he/she seeks to reinsure later...regardless of the reason...at least in some states (I'm in VA and it's true here)...something to check into prior to making a decision about whether to carry the insurance during college years...</p>
<p>My mom shopped around a bit to see what different insurance companieis offered. Horace Mann would have required completely removing me from insurance, then filling out 2 pages of paperwork every time I needed to be added back on. One company allowed me to be added as a "permissive driver" on our cars, dropping rates, but I would not have been covered on any other cars if for some reason I needed to drive them. We're switching to Geico, just like in those commericials... they offered the most savings and I'll be fully covered. Seems like there's many different policies and it's worth looking around.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. Good comments. Still waiting for the insurance Co. to get back to me though. I will ask if they have something similiar to beachys plan.</p>
<p>Overanxious - maybe I wasn't clear in my post....both our kids are fully insured at all times on all our cars under this arrangement. We get the discount because they are away at school without access to any of the cars for such a large part of the year. We could have gotten an even larger discount if we were willing to actually park and not touch one or more of the cars for a 3-consecutive-month period of our choice, but those dates never worked out when we'd factor in the school breaks and summers, when the kids need access to the cars for work while they are home.</p>
<p>I think that your son will be at USC (right?) as is mine. We gave him a car last fall. It is licensed in Virginia and it is covered by an insurance company that does business in Virginia, but not California. I was told that as long as he is a student there is no problem. If he drops out of school, we will not be able to retain the insurance although they do have a related company that they would refer us to.</p>
<p>The real problem is getting his car inspected. We can't since the car is 2500 miles away. That doesn't seem to bother Virginia and the registration for the car states that it's located in California, as mine is located in Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Yes, TS, if I remember correctly, your son is in Critical Studies at USC as well as my son. And Only 2 more days til move in! The bags are almost all packed!
My son will not have a car there at all - in fact he does not have his own car. I will see how long he can last without one.
BTW - Did your son stay in LA for the summer or come home?</p>
<p>check with the company with the gecko. They were upfront and knew the pariticulars of their program. We have never paid for extra kid's insurance but he still covered on our policy:</p>
<p>1) above 3.0 GPA
2) attends college far away
3) only drives less than certain amount per year
4) only drives certain time of year when home.
5) does not own a vehicle
6) side comment: didn't get drivers license until 19, although had permit
much earlier so he had a lot of driver's experience with parents-especially with over protective, copilot mother.</p>
<p>We're in NC, and our agent has told us that we can just remove him. He's going to Tulane and won't have a car. We're told the "insurance follows the vehicle, not the driver" and that he'll be covered as a driver with our permission when he's here for brief periods. That's what uninsured driver coverage is for, at least in NC. Anyway, it's what we're doing.</p>
<p>Check your state policies as well. Here anyone driving a car must be insured. Ditto anyone who registers a car. Our insurance gives an "away at school" discount for any college student over 100 miles away from home.</p>
<p>we are insured with the gekko.When D was an undergrad,2000 miles away, we listed her as a "casual driver" or some such name.We had to certify her enrollment at the far away institution and sign something stating she wouldnt be driving our cars for certain periods of time. Rates dropped significantly.Then she took her car (owned in H's name) out to Az for her last two years. Rates shot up,Az is the car theft capital of America due to its proximity to Mexico.She's now moved to the midwest, rates went back down.We are contemplating selling her the car (for a dollar or such) and having her insure herself,and reregistering the car in her new state.</p>
<p>Just having dropped my son off at college (about 250 miles away, in state), I called the insurance company about this very issue today. He was the "primary driver" of his car, and I was able to reduce him him "occasional, pleasure driver", which reduced our costs $200/month (family policy, 5 people, with 3 points on the policy for a speeding ticket, so we pay a lot). I think you have to keep liability insurance on him as long as he has a license.</p>
<p>My son stayed in LA this summer and worked on a commercial film as a production assistant to the camera person. He was paid, not much, but it was his first money earned in the "industry" and his first credit. The set was in Malibu and he couldn't have done it without a car. It was exhausting work. He had to get up a 4:00 in the morning to get to the set on time. Currently he is on call at an advertising agency, and turned town the opportunity to work on a Sierra Club documentary because it would cut into his school time.</p>
<p>He didn't stay in LA after his first year, but was able to get an unpaid internship in development with a production house in DC which makes documentaries for Court TV and the History Channel. Your son will have immediate opportunities to work on student productions if he wants. He should also take a look at the opportunities available at the USC (24/7) TV station.</p>
<p>My D is listed as away, but the saavings is pretty small. I asked about taking her off, but was told (by ins. co) that we couldn't do that if she is our dependent. Unless she gets too many points on her license and the company decides to take her off!</p>
<p>If a student DOES have a car at an out-of-state school, and the car is registered in your state, the insurance company might issue a special ID card reflecting that the policy has been issued in the other state. States have different minimum insurance requirements.</p>
<p>My insurance company also just listed my son as a full time student attending a college over 100 miles away which results in substantial savings. With this status, he is covered when home on vacations, summers, etc. We don't need to make any further changes until this status changes.</p>