☰
2015-03-19
By: Denise Koslowsky
When your teenager gets their driver’s license, they are EXCITED and you are ________________________________.
Choose your answer from below:
A. Excited for them, now you won’t have to schlep them around everywhere.
B. Proud, they are growing up so fast.
C. Worried, you know they passed their test but sometimes you don’t feel comfortable about being their passenger.
D. Scared, now your insurance premiums are going to go through the roof.
E. All of the above.
If you chose D or E, you’re not alone. You might even be so worried about the increase in your insurance premiums that you are tempted to leave your newly licensed driver off your policy. We’d like to offer a few words of caution:
Don’t try to fool your auto insurer.
Sooner or later, they are likely to find out
You may be telling yourself that they don’t really drive all that much so you really don’t need to put them on the policy yet. While that may be true, it really is better to be up front with your insurer. For one thing, accidents happen and they can happen on the rare occasion your teen is solo behind the wheel. After an accident is not the time for your insurer to find out you have an additional driver. For another thing, your insurer has the ability to pull a report that identifies hidden household members. It is called the LexisNexis A.D.D. report.
What is a LEXISNEXIS ADD Report?
This is an Additional Drivers Discovery and it identifies potential additional drivers in your household. An A.D.D. reports these drivers, as well as the identity information associated with them, to your insurance carrier. It also has a closely related cousin the Y.D.D.,the Youth Driver Discovery that identifies newly licensed drivers between the ages of 15-25 and reports them to your insurance carrier.
Accidents happen, then what?
If your carrier chooses to use one of these undisclosed driver reports and identifies a driver not on your policy, they can increase your premiums or cancel your policy. However, once you have an accident, your decision to leave your teen off your policy can be viewed as misrepresentation. They then have the ability to deny your claim and you will have to pay for any damages and liability personally. You also run the risk of them cancelling your policy, increasing your rates and covering the loss but billing you for back premiums from the time your teen gained their license.
As your insurance Advocate, we want to make sure you have the information you need to make a well informed decision. We hope this blog has provided insight rather than confusion. Should you have any further questions on the subject, we encourage you to give us a call. One of our customer service representatives would be happy to answer your questions.
#accidentshappen #teendrivers #undiscloseddriverreports
