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Reader Question: Can I Just Exclude My Teen to Save Money?
A parent asks about excluding a licensed 16-year-old from the family policy. It is allowed—and almost always a bad idea.
By Laura Jensen · Editor
Published
Answer in brief
A named-driver exclusion removes the teen from rating and from coverage. If the excluded teen drives a family car even once and crashes, there is no coverage for anyone involved. It is appropriate only for a teen with genuinely no access to the cars.
"My 16-year-old just got licensed and the quote to add him is $2,400. Can I exclude him and just not let him drive our cars?" — reader in Minnesota
You can, in most states. Whether you should depends on one question: can you guarantee he will never drive either car? Not "usually won't"—never. If he borrows the car for a ten-minute errand and hits someone, the exclusion means the policy pays nothing: not for the other driver's injuries, not for your car, not for his. You would be personally liable for all of it.
When exclusion fits
A teen away at boarding school or living with another parent full-time, with no access to your cars. In those cases the exclusion is honest and the saving is real.
Otherwise
Add him, assign him to the older car, claim good student and telematics, and compare insurers. The cost guide and adding a teen cover how to bring the $2,400 down legitimately.
Guides referenced in this post
Guide
Adding a Teen Driver to Your Car Insurance
When you must add a teen, how permits are handled, how insurers assign teens to vehicles, named-driver exclusions, and the questions to ask your insurer.
Guide
How Much It Costs to Insure a Teen Driver
What adding a 16- or 17-year-old does to a family premium, what a teen pays alone, why teens are the most expensive drivers to insure, and how the cost falls.