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Higher Liability Limits Save Families with Teen Drivers

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Consider the three following facts published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group.1 In 2005, twelve teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries.”

“Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.”

“The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group. In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.”

If you have a teen driver(s) in your household then you should be very worried.  Teen drivers get in accidents and those accidents tend to be bad… It doesn’t matter if your child is the hall monitor, detention superstar, computer loving nerd or all-state sports hero, he/she is not a good driver.

Unfortunately, chaining your children to the house is not an option.  Similarly, you are not going to be sitting next to them every time they get behind the wheel.  So if you can’t prevent the worst from happening, how do you protect your family if it does?

Max Out the Bodily Injury Liability and Personal Injury Protection Benefits on your Auto Insurance Policy.

At the Murray Group we recommend no less than $500,000 in bodily injury coverage.  For most carriers $500,000 is the maximum coverage available (if $1,000,000 is available take that).  Bodily injury liability is coverage to protect against exactly what it says, an at-fault accident causing bodily injury.

Maybe you are saying to yourself, “Yeah, he recommends so much because it increases the premium.”  For many carriers difference between $100,000 in bodily injury and $500,000 in bodily injury is ~$100… $100 over the course of year for $400,000 in additional bodily injury coverage.

So maybe now you should be saying to yourself, “Why hasn’t my agent recommended these limits to protect family?”

Disclaimer:

This article is for informational purposely only. There is no legal advice being suggested or proffered and the author assumes no responsibility or liability for the actions take or not taken by the readers based upon such information.

Thank you,

Ryan H.

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About Ryan Hanley

I passionately believe learning to effectively communicate online will help each of us to become the best version of ourselves...

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    For certain carriers this is a problem. However, there are carrier (such as RLI) in New York and Non-Standard carriers throughout the country that will take High-Risk Teens. I’m not saying these products aren’t going to be a little more expensive than without the teen, but they will provide the same quality Umbrella coverage.

    I give you a lot of credit for doing the right thing and purchasing an Umbrella. Let me know if there is anything I can do!

    Thanks!

  • concerned parent

    Ryan, what’s the answer if you have a high-risk teenage driver in the house and the insurer won’t issue the umbrella? As long as they’re a resident, the parent is at risk, it would seem. Is there anything you can recommend other than telling the teen-age driver to move out?

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    Thank you for you kind words!

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  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    Mike,

    From what I've seen, it often isn't even YOUR kid its your kids friends… Everyone wants a turn behind the wheel and the parent has no idea till there is a wreck.

    Thanks for the comment.

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    Mike,

    From what I've seen, it often isn't even YOUR kid its your kids friends… Everyone wants a turn behind the wheel and the parent has no idea till there is a wreck.

    Thanks for the comment.

  • Focus Mike

    You're right on the money here Ryan. As long as the child is a dependent, the parents can be found liable for their actions, regardless of who's policy the vehicle is on. This is the same reason I always recommend at least a million dollar umbrella for families with kids away at college, or with a watercraft. Kids do the darndest stuff when they're away at school or left unsupervised with a boat.

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  • http://www.guilderlandagency.com Ryan Hanley

    Bill,

    Thank you for your insight into the issue of higher Auto limits. However, I must admit that I completely disagree with your thought process on this issue.

    Its easy to say that Risk Management is the answer if we lived in a perfect world. The reality is that Accidents happen, and sometimes these accidents are terrible and tragic. And unfortunately, if your defense in court is “We had a Great Risk Management Plan” the judge is still going to find your or your familiy member guilty.

    If your kid kills someone with the family car there is going to be financial award given to the victums family. As a responsible adult, you must have higher liability limits to provide for that scenario.

    Personally, if I am at-fault in an accident it only seems prudent to have adequate Liability protection. Lawsuit abuse would not be my primary concern when it comes to my family’s security.

    Thanks,

    Ryan H.

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/about Ryan Hanley

    Bill,

    Thank you for your insight into the issue of higher Auto limits. However, I must admit that I completely disagree with your thought process on this issue.

    Its easy to say that Risk Management is the answer if we lived in a perfect world. The reality is that Accidents happen, and sometimes these accidents are terrible and tragic. And unfortunately, if your defense in court is “We had a Great Risk Management Plan” the judge is still going to find your or your familiy member guilty.

    If your kid kills someone with the family car there is going to be financial award given to the victums family. As a responsible adult, you must have higher liability limits to provide for that scenario.

    Personally, if I am at-fault in an accident it only seems prudent to have adequate Liability protection. Lawsuit abuse would not be my primary concern when it comes to my family’s security.

    Thanks,

    Ryan H.

  • http://www.privatelyheldinsurance.com Bill Ford

    Higher limits makes an inviting target. The family may need to evaluate their limits but they also must do some common sense risk management things foirst. These include but are not limited to

    1. Create an asset protection plan that is current and offers any protection available under local and state law. Some states have strong protection and some do not.

    2. Evaluate major medical coverage.

    3. Have the child drive an older, low profile vehicle. I also like to separately insure them with low limits but that is a personal preference and not always avilable as an option.

    4. Watch out for negligent entrustment.

    5. No friends drive their car. Period.

    High policy limits in sattes having tort systems makes your child a target for lawsuit abuse. Combine low limits with efefctive asset protection and you have a better measure of risk proetction. Remember also an insurance policy has exclusions and limiatations. If these occur the policy may not repsond.If the kid is qorth $500,000 in a policy then why is that not the case outside the policy?

    Procuring higher limits without institutiiong smart risk management is a good way to end up in a bad way!

  • http://www.privatelyheldinsurance.com/ Bill Ford

    Higher limits makes an inviting target. The family may need to evaluate their limits but they also must do some common sense risk management things foirst. These include but are not limited to

    1. Create an asset protection plan that is current and offers any protection available under local and state law. Some states have strong protection and some do not.

    2. Evaluate major medical coverage.

    3. Have the child drive an older, low profile vehicle. I also like to separately insure them with low limits but that is a personal preference and not always avilable as an option.

    4. Watch out for negligent entrustment.

    5. No friends drive their car. Period.

    High policy limits in sattes having tort systems makes your child a target for lawsuit abuse. Combine low limits with efefctive asset protection and you have a better measure of risk proetction. Remember also an insurance policy has exclusions and limiatations. If these occur the policy may not repsond.If the kid is qorth $500,000 in a policy then why is that not the case outside the policy?

    Procuring higher limits without institutiiong smart risk management is a good way to end up in a bad way!