Car Insurance and the College Student
Do you have a child that is getting ready to head off to college? If so, you may be wondering how it is going to affect your car insurance. After all, once your child became a licensed driver, you likely saw a raise in your rates. Now, you may be hoping that the rates will go down since your child is heading off to college. Whether or not your insurance rates will go up or down or stay the same, however, will depend upon a number of different factors.
Going to College and Car Insurance Rates
One factor that will have an impact on your car insurance rates is whether or not your college child will be taking the car to school. If your child is taking the car with him or her, you will need to make certain the insurance policy is in your child’s name. This may cause your insurance rates to go up a little bit. Even if the car belongs to you and your child is just borrowing it for school, your child’s name still needs to be listed on the policy. Depending upon the insurance company, you may even need to list your child as the primary operator since the car will be in your child’s possession. Again, this can cause your rates to go up.
In order to keep the rates under control as much as possible, find out if your insurance company provides discounts for college students or students maintaining a good GPA. Often, they will cut rates for students that have demonstrated responsibility in these ways.
If your child won’t be borrowing any of your cars, you still might not see a drop in your insurance rates when he or she heads off to school. If your child still lists your home as his or her permanent address, for example, the insurance company will still look at your child as a resident of the home. In this case, you likely won’t see a change in rates. If your child lists a different address, however, you might see a drop in your rates.
Obtaining Medical Insurance
In addition to car insurance coverage, you should also look into putting health insurance in place for your college student. For instance, you will want to make certain your child has proper health insurance in place. While your car insurance will pay for medical expenses associated with a car accident, there are other ways your child may become injured or ill. In many cases, HMO plans are inconvenient for college students because they move to a campus that is so far away from the doctors listed in the plan. In this case, you might want to consider obtaining medical insurance through the college. Often, this coverage is less expensive than paying for coverage through your employer.
When your child goes off to college, you will likely still have to pay to keep him or her covered through your car insurance and you may need to look into obtaining a different form of health insurance. Although this will add to the expenses associated with going to college, you will rest easier knowing that your child is properly covered.
Source: ArticleCube.com - Insurance
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