New drivers in the house!

[nd_deadhead]

My twin boys turn 16 this summer, and will be getting drivers licenses. I stopped at the insurance office this afternoon to find out what THAT is going to cost me! I've been joking for years that I wasn't going to tell my agent that I had twins - the boys look enough alike that they can share a license - but I'm too honest to actually try it.

The boys aren't getting their own vehicle, so we're adding them to the two cars we have - one of which is a 2009 van. Even with all available discounts, the increase on the two vehicles was going to be about $90/month! So I did some rearranging: I was still carrying comprehensive on my 1996 Jeep, so I dropped that. I raised the deductible on the van from $250 to $500. Once all the changes were made, the net increase was only about $20/month!

It definitely paid for me to go in, rather than just call, so I could see exactly what I was paying for on each vehicle. Now I just wish I'd made those changes a long time ago!

[2xy]

Wow....I don't really know how you managed that. We have a '97 Ford Taurus and an '08 Hyundai Elantra. Our Ford only carries liability; of course the Hyundai is fully covered because it's not paid off. Our insurance payment is $138/month, combined. Adding our teen driver raised it to $280/month. My answer to that was that the kid can't drive. Unfortunate, but he doesn't really care to drive, anyway, and only got a license because I pushed him (for employment reasons).

Anyway, I'm astounded that adding twin 16yo's only raised your payments by $90 in the beginning. I would be more than happy with that!

[nd_deadhead]

Probably several reasons - first, car insurance isn't very expensive in north Dakota; they both get a 20% good student discount; they also both get a 20% discount for completing a safe driving program through State Farm; they won't be driving to school every day, so they are listed as occasional drivers.

Before making the changes, our premiums for both vehicles (with full coverage on the Jeep) was $81.26/month. Adding the boys increased it to $173/month - more than double (before I started making cuts).

There are certain advantages to living in the boondocks!

[2xy]

I've inquired about driving programs and was told that RI doesn't lower insurance rates for that. New England has the worst drivers in the country. Even if you are a safe driver, chances are that nobody driving around you is. I've been hit in three parking lots in the past two years. My husband was rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver at a stoplight about six months ago. My friend's sister and BIL were killed on a motorcycle a few years ago, by someone who decided to pass another car on the right, hit a guardrail, and flipped up and over into the opposite lane.

My son's not in school, so there would be no discount for good grades. The rate I mentioned WAS the "occasional driver" rate. I have no idea how expensive it would be if he was a primary driver.

[enkmom]

Wow. We have 2 "teen" drivers (even though our daughter is 21 and our son is 20) and 4 cars. Our newest car is a 2001. Our insurance cost went up 1800/year to insure them. We used every available discount we could get, and this is still the lowest rate we were able to find. I don't know what we'll do with all our extra money when they both graduate and buy their own insurance!