Liability For 19 yr Old Son Driver

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Leesbro63
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Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:36 pm

Liability For 19 yr Old Son Driver

Post by Leesbro63 »

I want to put my son's car into his name, from mine, to limit my liability. My insurance agent says I will still be liable until he turns 21 as long as I am supporting him...which I am. This doesn't sound right to me, but the agent would actually generate a much higher premium if I "spin off" my son. Does this sound right?
hicabob
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Location: cruz

Re: Liability For 19 yr Old Son Driver

Post by hicabob »

Leesbro63 wrote:I want to put my son's car into his name, from mine, to limit my liability. My insurance agent says I will still be liable until he turns 21 as long as I am supporting him...which I am. This doesn't sound right to me, but the agent would actually generate a much higher premium if I "spin off" my son. Does this sound right?

That's what I was informed too. Umbrella insurance or bump up your liability to a couple million is the solution.
Topic Author
Leesbro63
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Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: Liability For 19 yr Old Son Driver

Post by Leesbro63 »

I already did that but wanted to reduce this risk even if his own insurance was more. But if spinning him off on the car won't reduce my risk, ill leave it as-is and keep the insurance (lower cost in my name )
OverTheHill
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Location: North Carolina

Re: Liability For 19 yr Old Son Driver

Post by OverTheHill »

It depends on what state you live in. If this is important to you, then you should ask an attorney. Generally speaking, a parent is not liable for a son's auto accident so long as the car is titled, registered, and insured in the son's name, and so long as the son wasn't driving with a parent in the car or on a task for his parents. Of course, general rules all have exceptions, which is why you need to talk with an attorney.
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walkabout
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Location: Northern Alabama

Re: Liability For 19 yr Old Son Driver

Post by walkabout »

I think you are stuck. As long as your son is a dependent, you will probably still be liable. Depending on his driving record (violations and/or accidents), prepare for your umbrella to be impacted as well.

In our case, our insurance company (USAA) for both auto and umbrella (and homeowner) told us that we no longer qualified for USAA-underwritten umbrella (due to multiple at-fault accidents). Putting her on her own policy would not prevent the umbrella problem as all drivers in the home (and/or dependents that could theoretically drive) are considered for purposes of coverage/premium determination. They were able to provide us a third-party underwritten umbrella at about triple the rate (that also required us to up our coverages on our cars). Our daughter is now married, so she is no longer on our policy. Removing her from the policy (so that just my wife and I are covered) dropped our total auto/umbrella premium by over $1000 per annum!

EDIT:
Reading OverTheHill's response makes me want to ammend my post slightly. It seems that there are two considerations:
1. Reducing your liability (i.e. shifting it to your son and his own insurance).
2. Reducing ongoing expense of expensive young driver insurance.

My post describes our experience with trying to mitigate the increases to our premiums. I wasn't consciously thinking of reducing our liability for our daughter's actions. That may or may not be the same issue you were asking about in your original question.
fidelio
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Re: Liability For 19 yr Old Son Driver

Post by fidelio »

+1 to overthehills submission. depends on the state, but your agent knows, or at least someone at his company.

i was involved in casualty claims investigations for 32 years. i am therefore ridiculously over-insured. insurance is a sort of modern curse, but if it's not there when you need it, well ....
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