Car insurance for 19 year old..who pays

[BeCoolStork]

does every parent pay a 19 year olds car insurance? Bought dss a car, when we gave it to him, immaculate condition btw, said the review mirror needs a clean. We said you will need to help pay towards insurance ( not whole amount) which he wasn’t so keen on doing. He has a part time job, plus around 3k in savings. Starting uni in sept. Has a student loan. We still have dds 2 at home, plus our daughter 11. Are we unreasonable to expect him to pay a contribution towards his insurance? He thinks we are.

My parents gave me some money for my 17th birthday towards my driving lessons, that was it. I was grateful. I saved up and bought my own car and paid for my own insurance. Did he actually want a car? I didn't get one until after I graduated because it was an expense I didn't want and at uni I had no need for a car. My dad did kindly add me to his insurance in the holidays (but it was much cheaper to do that back then)

Apologies I'd missed your last update.
He's scared of public transport and refuses to walk 30 minutes to town? Not sure I'd want him driving tbh. You've also got bigger issues than car insurance with him

So how would he get around if he didn't have a car?

We helped until he was working then he took over, same with most things when they are in education even with part time jobs we helped out.

But full time work means fully paying.. I’ve just typed that and will admit the buggers are both still on my phone plan! So they have their SIM cards paid for monthly.

He isn't keen? He isn't driving it then. So he either pays towards it or starts like public transport or walking.

My eldest two are 23 and almost 20 and they both pay for their insurance And up keep of their cars.

The answers on this thread are very interesting, and give a lot of insight into why different socioeconomic groups gave children who do differently.

For working class families, it seems once a child is 18 they should pay for everything themselves. No help, so if they have a car they better get a job and pay for it. Even if parents can afford to help: no, the young person needs to learn the harsh lessons of survival.

For middle and upper-middle classes, parents see it as a privilege to help their child establish themselves in the world. Your child will be competing as adults with others of similar ago whose families will buy them private tutors, apartments, cars, access to prized internships, and every other advantage that will help their adult life be successful. If a 19 or 20 year old is working like a donkey to pay for car insurance, then their focus on learning the sorts of skills to thrive in this world is reduced. These families actively support their children into their twenties, and as a result their kids thrive.

Do you think that the families of Prince William and Harry’s school friends made their children pay for their own car insurance at 19? No, they do everything they can to give their child every advantage they can.

No doubt it’s unfair. But a good part of the outcomes of each group is related to the cultural practices of the group. And withdrawing parental support from a 19 year old for something like car insurance, when side of their luckier peers will have cars AND flats bought for them at that age, does make us reflect on how to best help young people

@BeCoolStork Hmm. He’s dictating everything isn’t he. A bit of a monster in your home that you have enabled to grow and grow. What does his dad think? I’d sell it! Yes, he should get the bus!

Is he NT? Being scared of public transport is a bit odd.

It depends , can you afford it?, can he afford it,? Can he afford to run a car? Why is he scared to use public transport and why can't be walk?
There is no rule every family s different

Be upfront. Most young people pay their own car insurance. Show a little gratitude. Get his father to say it to him, to avoid you being accused of anything.

LOL no, he pays it all. He's so fortunate to have been given a car, he needs to pay everything else. Many of us got nothing towards driving except a block of lessons as a present.

Honestly, I'd have been mortified to have to tell anyone that my parents paid for my insurance. He's an adult, a working one, why is he happy to sponge instead of paying his way?

@Balloonhearts With insurance potentially costing £ thousands, of course many parents pay! It’s normal. In my day I paid for my own driving lessons too! Plus the old banger crap car and the insurance which was over 1 months salary . I didn’t like having no help and, like many parents, DH and me have paid. Lots of dc drive a car as a student and don’t earn anything so of course parents pay. Lots around me drive to school - parents pay.

Does he have a disability/SEN?

Scared of public transport and won’t walk for thirty minutes but can attend uni and drive?

Is he moving out?

He should be bloody grateful for the car. Very few uni students have them.

It’s amazing you bought him a car at all. He absolutely needs to buy the insurance himself. It’s not normal for parents to pay! My DC didn’t have one at that age. One bought herself one at age 24. The other still doesn’t have one at age 29.

I paid for his theory and driving tests.
DS paid for his driving lessons, bought his car and paid his insurance. Cost him about £7k. He worked from 16 and saved up.

Will he need a car if he is at uni. Of course he should pay he was lucky you bought him a car.
If kids can't pay for their own car they shouldn't have one. What about petrol, tax, mot and repairs does he expect you to pay for that too.

I think this all needed to be sorted out and agreed before you bought the car tbh. If he isn't willing to contribute, then he can't have a car.

My dd has recently bought her first car at 21. She saved up for it and saved for the insurance etc as well. As things turned out, my elderly dad very kindly stepped up to pay for her insurance instead, but she was fully expecting to pay for it and understood that she wouldn't have a car if she couldn't afford it.

In that case, I'd say your kids were very pampered and over indulged. The teenagers I know (working class kids) worked really hard to save both the money for the car and pay their own insurance.

Why are they not earning as students? They're quite capable of a part time job. It's normal.

Over indulging teenagers is not good. And the son in question in this OP needs to wake up to the real world. If you want it, you pay for it yourself. It's called adulting for a reason.

Fucking hell. By 18 I'd left home and was working overseas. On my own, arranged by me.

This is mad. Most students do not have cars. Most people wait to learn to drive until they can afford it. They’re not generally driving at 17/18. If you wait till your mid-20s, insurance costs are lower. Whereas some parents may pay for lessons for a birthday or Christmas present- we did - buying a car for a young person and subsequent insurance is very pampered.

We bought the car...it now belongs to them!! If they don't want it..they could always sell it!

DD 19 has paid the whole of her car insurance from day one. This will be her second year. She is also an uni and we are supporting her, but the insurance is in her name so she pays. She's also has had a part-time job since she was 16 so this is the money she uses to pay for her insurance. She also paid for 50% of her driving lessons.

Yes we could probably afford to pay for it and we will be paying for the MOT and service, but she needs to learn that things like this cost money and that not everything is handed to you as an adult.

We bought our son a car and pay for his car insurance and road tax but he pay his own petrol. He save his earnings for his future which we encourage (currently on a gap year and working). He has now some investments and Lisa account. I think we will carry on paying for his car insurance and road tax until he finish his uni course as he'll only work two days a week once he starts his uni.

Mine didn’t get a car til he was 22 but I had said to him his 21st birthday present would be his first years insurance and I’ll probably make it his Christmas present this year (he got the car last January ). He lives away and on a minimum wage job no way can he afford it (one of the reasons it took so long to save up for the car, which was £2600, in the first place). But having a car has given him so much freedom - he lives where there are only buses and once an hour if that. If he was living at home I’d expect him to pay.

DD back from uni; passed test at 18 but hasn’t needed a car at uni so hasn’t had one. Doesn’t need her own car now but is a named driver on mine and pays the difference between what the insurance would be without her on it, and what it is. If she ever gets her own car it’ll all be on her. I don’t know how young adults ever understand how expensive stuff is if it is never discussed with them / they never have to pay for it.

I pay insurance as he is at uni and the car stays at home during term time and he shares it with his sister who is still at school and learning to drive. If he paid it he would need more help with uni costs so I’d end up paying either way.

Mine pays. I bought him the car, I pay his tax, annual parking ticket and petrol for college and work but he pays insurance and additional petrol. Mine is still at college so working part time. If he was in full time work I would expect him to pay it all.