Q: My kid is at college full time. He comes home for winter break, spring break and a few weeks in the summer. He has no car at college. How do I get him insurance for when he is here?
A: This is a common question for people with kids. No insurance company will sell you a policy for shorter than 6 months. Some insurance companies such as CSAA sell 1 year policies.
So, solutions:
A – Buy your kids an older junker. Put the car in their name. Get them insurance with one of these discount insurance brokers and then make sure that you provide proof of insurance to your insurance company. Unexclude them from coverage since they have their own policies. That gives you a work around.
B – You could, in theory, unexlude them when they come home for the summer and then exclude them when they leave. This may work once or twice before your insurance company catches on and puts an end to it, but I have seen people do it.
c – Get them a non-owner policy. These are specialty products that not everyone sells (and not everyone knows about) that are more common in places like SF or NYC where you have a lot of people who do not own cars but may occassionally drive a car. This would work for your kids, the premiums would be less expensive and you don’t have to hassle with A or B, but you will have to shop around.
You would think there would be an insurance company to help out in this situation, but they have a very difficult time determining premiums for short periods of time.
PS Some insurance companies will cover your college student for a short period of time! Shop around for this coverage.