Tips for Insuring a Driver with a Learner's Permit

When people think of a learners permit for driving a car, they usually envision an excited teen sitting behind the wheel while a nervous parent fears for the worst. However, new drivers come in all ages. Not everyone who is a learner is a teen or is being trained by a parent. Adults and teens take drivers education classes and usually secure a learner's permit at some point during the process. Insuring the budding driver is always needed, but may not always happen the same way.

Teen drivers are often added to their parent's car insurance policies.

When your child secures a learner's permit, you need to contact your agent to ascertain how a learner's permit is added to your policy. Many times, the agent will simply advise you that informing the agent is enough. There frequently will be no change in the pricing of the policy until the teen becomes an official driver. At that point, he or she must be added to the policy, and you will receive a bill. Generally, this bill will be much larger than your old insurance premium because a teen driver is now on it.

If you intend to let a learner use your car for experience, call your agent for specifics on how to proceed.

You may have a friend, neighbor or relative that you want to help along the pathway of becoming a licensed driver by using your car. Because this driver is not a member of your immediate family, some insurance companies may elect to add a small premium increase to your bill during this time. Many companies realize that the beginning driver will constitute a very minor amount of your vehicle's use and will simply cover the learner until he or she is licensed. This is especially true if you are already rated for underage drivers and the learner is a teen. It may also be true if your policy includes a provision that anyone who drives your car as an occasional driver is covered.

If you are an adult learner who is the car owner, you must buy insurance for your car.

Once you buy a vehicle in your name, it must be insured in order to be licensed to drive. Take the time to discuss your situation with your agent or broker. Your policy will need to cover anyone who acts as your licensed driver during the learning process. You will also have to have insurance that covers other drivers to transport you in your own car from time to time until you secure your own driver's license. Pay close attention to the type of driver that your policy allows to drive your car. You may not be insured to let drivers under 25 years old be operators of the vehicle, whether they are your licensed driver while you are training or the actual driver of the car.