joe.spam.weinstein[at]gmail.com wrote:
- quote -

Whether or not some person or insurance company will try to go after
you for compensation for damages caused by your 16 year old daughter
(which, by the way, I don't think is very likely because the only way
the parents are liable is if the parent's own negligence in some way
contributed to the accident) will not be affected by how you structure
her insurance coverage. If someone wants to come after you they will,
regardless of whether the title is in her name or your name, or if she
has her own insurance or is on your policy. Legal liability is not
affected by insurance coverage; Either you are liable for injury or you
aren't; insurance just pays that liability for you.

Her getting insurance on her own might cost more than her being on your
policy. If you are footing the bill, and worried about cost, this might
really be the most important factor to look at.

On the other hand, it is fairly typical for insurance companies to
raise rates for years if they have to pay a claim on your policy. If I
was in your shoes I would carefully question the agent about how much
your rates would go up and for how long if there was a claim from an
accident your daughter had. It is fairly commen for teenagers to have
accidents, and when you take into account the risk of having your rates
bumped up it may make more sense for her to have her own separate
policy.

Another thing to consider is that the average person faces little risk
of ever losing any personal assets because of liability from an
automobile accident. Carrying auto liability insurance is the right
thing to do from a social responsibility perspective, its required in
many if not all states, and its good to carry high liability limits so
that you can carry equally high uninsured/underinsured motorist
coverage, but the average household does not have the net worth to be
worth a personal injury attorney's time. I have a friend who has been
a PI plaintiff's or defense lawyer for 15 years and he can't think of
even one time he has heard of someone using personal assets to pay a
automobile liability claim. All this to say, unless you are worth
millions I would not be structuring your daughter's insurance in a way
that increases your net premium expense out of a fear of losing
everything because of liability from an accident your daughter gets
into.

As a practical matter, your biggest financial risk associated with your
daughter's driving is her being hit by an uninsured/underinsured driver
and you having to pick up special care expenses that are not covered by
health insurance. I personally would structure her insurance whatever
way gets her at least $200K in uninsured/underinsured coverage for the
lowest premium.

Andy

<<I'm interested in insurance costs and sheltering myself from
financial legal risks>
These are conflicting requirements - if you "disconnect" the
association between yourself and her, the insurance will cost more.

I suggest that you get her an older low value used car, have the title
and registration in her name, hand her a wad of cash, and send her to a
different insurance company to get her own stand-alone policy. Don't
put her on your own policy. Don't put yourself on her policy.

John Cowart

hi, thanks.
She's just 16, and the car(s) are owned by the parents.
She has no income. Some insurer could write her a
separate policy. All money would be really coming
from the parents until she gets a job. I'm interested
in insurance costs and sheltering myself from financial
legal risks...
thanks
Joe

Whose name is on the title for this car? Is this person the
one who drives it mostly and so also has his/her name on the
insurance records for it (or should, per the law)?

If your daughter owns this car (or for all intents and
purposes and one way or another is supposed to be
responsible for this vehicle), IMO she should make her own
arrangements for insurance. Otherwise, ISTM parents are
enabling their children never to be independent. If that's
cool with your wife and you, so be it.

Otherwise, what incentive is there for this girl to be
responsible in driving this vehicle? Cars are expensive.
That is one of the first serious financial lessons a young
person transitioning to independence (hopefully between the
years of 17 and 21) gets.

Can your insurer sell your daughter a separate policy?

Lots of murkiness here. I would be interested to see your
clarification.

Hi. This may be more of a legal question... Financial advice I've
gotten
says that I should do all I can to separate my teenager's ownership,
payments, insurance and any other records of a car from me. This
is because any insurance company paying a claim because of anything
my child does, will try to recoup from whoever has any money and is
associated in any way with my child's driving.
My current insurer wants to fight this perception, citing two (only!)
cases where a parent was still successfully sued. I suspect he just
wants the new business. He want us to associate our child with a
junky car to lower the premium, but the coverage will apply to any
of our cars, and to increase our umbrella coverage to cover the
new risk...
Opinions sought.
thanks
Joe