Much Cheaper for Young Adults to Stay on Parents' Car Insurance

18-year-olds pay an average of 18% more for car insurance if they sign up for an individual policy as opposed to remaining on their parents' policies, according to a new insuranceQuotes.com report. The "penalty" for buying individual insurance instead of family coverage is much higher in some states. 

For example, 18-year olds in Rhode Island pay an average of 53% more for individual coverage. Connecticut (47%), Oregon (47%), Nevada (41%) and Maine (40%) aren't far behind.

Hawaii doesn't allow auto insurance companies to factor age or length of driving experience into their costs. Insurers in Illinois, Alaska and Florida only charge 18-year-olds an average of 7% more for individual coverage.

"In most states, individual policies significantly add to the already high cost of insuring a teen driver," says Laura Adams, insuranceQuotes.com's senior analyst. "Parents with an 18-year-old on their policy pay an average of 77% more than they would without the teen. While this certainly isn't cheap, it's usually much better than the individual policy option. Parents who wish to foster financial independence can still ask their child to pay for all or at least some of the increase."

Nationally, individual policies cost 9% more than family coverage at age 19 and 4% more at age 24. Even at age 24, though, there are states where individual coverage costs significantly more than family coverage (for example, 15% more in North Carolina and 10% more in Maryland).

Click here to view the average premium increases in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.:

http://www.insurancequotes.com/auto/should-teens-get-own-auto-insurance-policy-81015