Do you need auto insurance with a learner’s permit?

Do you need a license to get insurance? Do student drivers need insurance? When your teen gets their first driving permit, you and your teenager may have many questions about insurance. (For more information, read our “How much is it to add a teenager to auto insurance?“).

Learner’s permits are driving permits given to teenage drivers before they become fully licensed.

By using a learner’s permit, the young driver is allowed to practice driving in order to prepare for their road test. While not fully licensed, you still need auto insurance with a learner’s permit when out on the road.

To learn more about auto insurance with a learner’s permit, as well as other help understanding auto insurance with a permit, keep reading.

Want to save on your car insurance rates when preparing to add a learner permit driver to your car insurance? Enter your ZIP code in our free rate comparison tool above to compare learner’s permit auto insurance quotes.

What are learner’s permit insurance policies?

Do I need to be insured to learn to drive? If you have a learner’s permit, you do need to have some type of learner driver insurance coverage if you want to actually drive a car. In most cases, however, you will not need to apply for your own auto insurance policy if you are a young driver.

The person who will be sitting in the car driving with you will most likely have you covered under their policy. Does auto insurance follow the car or the driver? In most cases, the insurance policy follows the car, not the driver. So if you are driving your parents’ car, you will be insured under their policy.

Insurance companies that accept permits almost always will extend parents’ insurance policies to include their children with learning permits.

So parent’s worried about does their child needs auto insurance with a driving or learner’s permit doesn’t need to stress about buying a new policy. In order for their insurance to apply, however, your parents will need to add you as a teenage driver on their insurance policy.

Read more: How To Pass Your Driving Test 

Why should parents tell auto insurers about learner permit drivers?

Most parents stress about questions like “do I need to add a student driver to insurance” or “does a learner or student driver need insurance to drive my car”. There are three reasons parents should tell their insurer that they have a new learner permit driver.

• The insurance company will now know that you will be driving your parent’s car. They will let you know of any restrictions or special situations that might arise.
• Can you buy a car with a permit? Yes, and if you are not driving your parent’s car, but actually a car that you own and is under your name, your insurance agent will let you know what needs to happen. In this situation, you might need to get your own policy under your own name. At the very least, you will need to be added to your parent’s policy.
• The insurance company will let you know what needs to happen once you pass your road test and are fully licensed.

You should let your parents know that it is very important that they contact their insurance company before you get behind that wheel. Never assume that you are covered by a car insurance policy without notification.

Do you need auto insurance when you have a learner’s permit?

If you have a learner’s permit do you need car insurance coverage? Driving without insurance is illegal, so all learner permit drivers need to have coverage while driving. As we stated earlier, as long as you are driving with an insured driver, you should be covered.

As a parent, if you are worried about does my auto insurance cover learner driver, the best way to find out is to contact your insurer.

It is vital that all teenagers are covered when driving, as according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), teens are twice as likely as adult drivers to get into fatal crashes.

This is why most states have graduated licensing laws in place for teen drivers. These laws ease young drivers into driving on their own and include rules for the time of day they can drive as well as how many people can be in the car.

Although safe driving habits should be taught to your new driver, accidents still happen.

Not having insurance could mean high medical bills and repair bills. So if you are the parent of a learner permit driver, make sure he or she is covered by your insurance. Even if they have a clean driving record thus far, it is still a good idea to get them insured.

Read more: Can I buy auto insurance without a driver’s license?

What are learner’s permit auto insurance rates?

Age is just one of the factors that will affect your car insurance rates. Younger drivers have less experience so they are more likely to get in an accident, which raises auto insurance rates.

Most parents worry that adding a learner’s permit driver to their insurance plan will raise their auto insurance rates. But when they ask does a teenager with a learner’s permit need insurance, the answer is always yes.

While some parents may not want to contact their insurer and let them know about new permit drivers, until a learner’s permit driver becomes licensed, insurance rates shouldn’t go up even if parents inform their insurer. Why?

Because parents are in the car with new drivers and are instructing them, there is less chance of permit drivers crashing than when they are newly licensed and driving on their own.

However, once teens are added to an insurance policy as licensed drivers, rates can go up hundreds of dollars per year. Take a look at the table below to see how much rates can cost for teenagers compared to 25-year-olds.

Before you start stressing about your bank account, these rates are for teenage drivers who buy their own policy. Adding a teenager to an existing policy will keep rate increases much lower.

However, these high rates are why it is so important for parents to shop around before they buy learner permit car insurance. Although adding a new driver will affect your car insurance rates, it’s much cheaper than a teen having an individual policy.

Also, choosing the right car for your teen driver is important. A new car or a sports car will raise those insurance rates even higher.

We hope that our guide has answered your question of is auto insurance required for learner’s permit drivers.  If you are ready to save money on auto insurance for new learner permit drivers, enter your ZIP code into our free tool below.

Frequently Asked Questions: Auto Insurance with a Learner’s Permit

Do you still have questions about do student or temp drivers need insurance? Read on to see what parents and teenagers are asking about auto insurance while learning to drive.

#1 – Do I need to add my teen driver with a permit to my family’s auto insurance policy?

Do permit drivers need auto insurance? Most parents wonder if they need to add their teenage drivers to their policy. Depending on your insurance provider and where you live, the rules regarding adding your teen driver vary.

As stated above, most places will allow the teen to be covered under the parent’s policy as long as the parent is driving with him or her.

The teen driver does not actually need his own insurance policy; it just needs to be driving a car that is insured already by the parent. To make sure of the rules and restrictions in your state, it is best that you contact your insurance provider to double-check the rules for auto insurance for teenagers.

#2 – What if my auto insurance provider does require that my teen driver with his permit have auto insurance?

Do learners permit drivers need insurance if the insurer requests it? If your provider informs you that your teenage driver needs his or her own car insurance, you should look into getting a temporary auto insurance policy that will cover them for the duration of their permit.

Ask your insurance agent how much this type of policy will cost. If the cost is too high, in your opinion, you should seek learner’s permit driver auto insurance quotes elsewhere.

#3 – What if I don’t live at home anymore? Am I still covered under my parents’ policy?

Do you need insurance with a learner’s permit if you don’t live at home? Usually, the one requirement that auto insurance companies have when determining whether or not to insure a driver with a permit is whether or not they live at home.

If you do not live at home with your parents, you will not be covered under their policy. In this case, you will need to shop around for your own car insurance.

#4 – Do I have to notify my parents’ auto insurance if I get a permit?

A lot of times, the insurance company will still cover you under your parents’ policy even if you do not inform them of your situation. Sometimes, however, they do not.

This is the reason why it is not worth it. You should always inform your auto insurance company that you will be driving your parents’ car while you learn to drive.

Whether it’s State Farm learner’s permit insurance, auto insurance for a young driver from Geico, or student driver insurance from a local company, not informing them that you are driving a parent’s car could lead to penalties.

Even if you don’t think it could happen to you, realize that thousands of drivers with learner’s permits get in accidents each year. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.