Time for your kids to get their own auto insurance policy!

We all love our kids, most of them right?  And as parents we want to do the best for them. But, when it comes to car insurance it seems like parents put their kids best interests ahead of what is best for them.
The reason this came up is because a former Bachelor contestant Chris Soules just pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident where a person got injured. Then the next day it was revealed by US Weekly that his parents ended up paying 2.5 million dollars to the victims family!
Why on earth would a grown man’s parents be liable for what their grown son did? There are two ways they could be responsible.  The first is the truck Chris was driving was registered to his parents. In this case the attorneys could make a case that the vehicle is the parents and by allowing Chris to borrow the car you were also liable for his actions.
The second and more likely scenario was that Chris was still on his parent’s insurance policy. Often times it is cheaper to bundle cars and drivers and keep everyone in the house together on the same policy. Is this a smart thing to do? No, it definitely is not.
At some point your kids need to have their own car insurance and they need to have the car the drive in their own name. As parents you don’t want to find yourself in the situation such as the Soules did. I understand parents always want to do the best and help their children. But, in doing so they put everything they own at risk. Do you want to lose your life’s assets to save a few dollars for your son or daughter?
It sounds like the Soules were smart and had high limits along with an umbrella policy. Normally round judgments like this are just the maxed out coverage issued by insurance companies. Normally, in an accident involving a death insurance companies pay out the max liability coverage and move on. Especially, in this case where you had the head of the household who got killed. The family can make the case that without him they stand to lose everything they have.  All the lost farming knowledge, the lost earning potential, the family of the deceased has a great claim against the Soules family.
When is the right time to get the kids on their own policy? As soon as they are out of school and working you should move them onto their own policy. Make sure the car is in their name alone. Don’t be a co-signer, don’t put your name on the title because you want to hold the car against them. If they have their own insurance policy and they have their own car they are then responsible for whatever they do.
You don’t want to find yourself in that situation. For a few hundred dollars a year get yourself an umbrella policy. Especially, if you have kids on your insurance. 951-395-0754