Until last week, our 23 year old son has lived at home while working and attending school. He is still working and attending school but just one class. He is subletting a house with friends for the next 4 months and may come back home or may move with other friends. He has changed his address at the post office and on his drivers license. The car he is driving is in my husband's name. Son is currently on our insurance policy but I want to make sure that this is legal. Does he need to get his own separate insurance? The car is in my husband's name and we are willing to sign it over to son if this is advisable.
Thanks much for any help.
Cubbieblue

Ask your insurance agent. Every company is different. That's the only way to be 100% sure.

Given the circumstances, [I am in NC], it is okay to leave the title and insurance as they are for now. As long as the title matches the insurance you are fine. Your son is covered to drive this car as long as you have him listed as a driver on your auto policy and have him assigned as Primary Operator of that particular vehicle.

In Texas,and for most insurance compainies, the highest rated driver is rated to the highest rated vehicle that is on the policy, and rating is also determined by household members. So if your insurance co knows that the vehicle is not housed at the original address and is housed at another location with the risk of others that may have access to the vehicle, they will either add the other household members or have you exclude them or cancel your policy... What I am trying to say is that insurance is rated according to risk factors, such as age, location and who has access to the vehicle...

I was an insurance underwriter for several years for a well known auto insurance company.

I live away from my parents and they're on my car insurance under named drivers, so I presume its roughly the same thing, still call your insurance co to check like others have sugested :)

The issue here is two fold, each isurance company has its own underwriting

The car has to be insured ( should be) by the owner, with any other drivers listed ( esp if under certain ages)

So you should be paying the rate for a driver your son age.
Assuming you are not trying to pay a lower rate, since husband is the owner, policy would be in his name, but son would be listed as the principle driver and the rate set for son as driver

Quote:

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Originally Posted by polly123

In Texas,and for most insurance compainies, the highest rated driver is rated to the highest rated vehicle that is on the policy, and rating is also determined by household members. So if your insurance co knows that the vehicle is not housed at the original address and is housed at another location with the risk of others that may have access to the vehicle, they will either add the other household members or have you exclude them or cancel your policy... What i am trying to say is that insurance is rated according to risk factors, such as age, location and who has access to the vehicle...

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This is not necessarily the case everywhere.

A driver is assigned to the car they actually drive. Only if the driver causes an accident on a higher rated vehicle would the rating be changed because then there is evidence that he/she should be assigned to that particular vehicle.

Because of the fact that her son will be away only temporarily, it's OK to leave the insurance at the home address. The OP just needs to make sure that she updates the classification of his vehicle (is he commuting regularly to school/work? if so how far one way?) His housemates will not be added to his policy in this situation because it's a roommate/non-family situation. If it were a new policy being set up, he would need to explain the relationship with the housemates in order to exclude them but that is not the case here.

I'm not sure about Texas law, but risk is not based on age, it's based on the actual number of years of driving experience.

Since the OP hasn't come back to say where she's located, then we cannot guess at the laws for her state.

Yes, every state is different and every company is different... All companies have a different rating system... Call your insurance company and they will gladly tell you how they rate: age, credit, hightest rated drivers,accidents, driving record, etc...