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.

Does he have SEN/ND? because if not, you've spoilt him rotten.

I bought my (cheap and crap) car and paid for my insurance at roughly the same age.

My child will do the same if they want a car.

We paid for both DC driving lessons and provided a cheap runaround, once they passed, they pay the insurance. DS went off to Uni, he decided to sell his car, bank the money, to buy another car when he finishes. No parking in his Uni town anyway.

@Btc76 that's a very blanket statement which I don't think is true. I have friends who earn over 6 figures paid for their children to go to private school yet wouldn't pay for university or their cars.

I don't think it's a case of being able to afford it, it's trying to teach young adults that you have to work for things and not get everything handed to you on a plate.

I also know of children from less well off parents who haven't had to work any part time jobs as their parents have covered everything even if they struggle to afford it.

My son paid his at 17, and then at 18. We bought the car, viewpoint being he will have motivation to keep accidents to a minimum if he is responsible for insurance premiums. Also they want to drive, they have to be responsible enough to pay for it.

If I took this view, my son would be spending every penny on expensive drinks and Ubers. Not gaining a socio economic advantage . Get a grip.

If you want to spoil your kids go for it, but don't kid yourself it's normal. It's really not. At 17, you get the absolute piss ripped out of you if anyone finds out your parents pay your phone contract, never mind your car!

Getting a car and paying for it yourself is one of the first transitions to adulthood. I'd not infantilise my kids by jumping in to do it for them. This is where they learn that you have to work for things you want, not rely on mummy to buy it for you.

In the past, it would have been a definite yes. But it can be very hard for young ones to get a job now, uni is so expensive compared to the past, and there's no longer any guarantee of a good job after (in the noughties, pretty much every grad seemed to get a decent job). So depends on your financial situation, if you can afford it and want to, that's fine.

The driver pays. Fuel, insurance, cleaning. Everything.

This really. Jeezo, he sounds entitled!

We pay for our DC's car insurance until they leave uni.

For a 19 year old at university, we'd pay. If in full time work/ on an apprenticeship, they'd pay their own.

Where do you live that this is true?

Well, he can’t afford to run it. I’m not sure you should have bought it for him if you did not have that discussion and agreement beforehand.

@Btc76 Possibly true for my circle. My parents bought me a brand new car and paid for all costs as well as all my other housing costs for uni and beyond. Never asked to pay rent and parents paid for our house deposits. We intend to do the same for our children - who are at boarding school. We do recognise the privilege and not everyone can do the same. However we do instil how lucky they are and the need to focus on education and network to establish themselves in their future career and life. It’s the same for their peers and the privilege is across generations.

@Btc76 - interesting ponderings, but I have to disagree.
There are people of all 'social classes' (which in itself is nowhere near as clear cut as you are making out) who make different choices about what they give to their dc and when they choose to let their dc understand the value of money and the choices about working or not and who value different things to spend money on, it really isn't to do with class at all.

Sorry OP but it sounds like you have a lot going on with him if he won't take public transport or walk

I do have to agree with this. @BeCoolStork just dropped it in to a post as if this were normal behaviour. What do you mean "he won't take public transport" ? If one of my dc had said to me "I won't get a bus / train" I'd have simply asked them "Well how are you going to get there and back then?"
As for not walk 1/2 a mile

Also this:

This is a discussion on both the insurance and running costs that should have been done before you bought him the car

Whatever we as parents decide (or are able to afford) to contribute towards getting our teen dc on to the road, surely that conversation is had with them, looking at all the on-going costs and responsibilities.

A 'gift' with ongoing costs isn't something anyone should choose for someone else without discussing it with them first. Otherwise it is not a good present.

Lol at not paying car insurance=withdrawing parental support 😂

Tell me you're middle class without telling me you're middle class 🤣

My 17 year old paid for his own. Not through blood sweat and tears you'll be pleased to hear , just a part time job in M&S.

Nope. All 3 of my late teens / early twenties have a car. All 3 are paying their insurance through part time jobs.

Bought the car for the 18th but they paid there own running costs

but that said it doesn’t really sound as though he’s in a position to to run a car even with 3k savings

Does he want or need a car? Most uni students won’t be able to park nearby so will it stay parked up at home?

Scared of public transport? May I ask why? And why on earth do people take a car when it's only a half hour walk?
No wonder we have so much pollution.

We were much meaner than this. We refused to buy or help buy a car, as they wouldn’t be able to afford to run it at uni. They eventually bought one, and were old enough for insurance cost to have dropped.

DC bought car from money given by grandparents (they saved for all grandkids and gave them the cash when 18) and has paid own insurance from.the day they bought it!

I’ve paid the first year for all of mine, but they all passed before starting y13 and as transport to school/college was not much less, it was a sort of equivalent to paying their school bus fares. 2 have kept the car going after 6th form and paid for everything, one went straight to uni and sold his car. I wouldn’t pay for a 19yo not in education and don’t quite know why I would be expected to. It’s nice that people manage to keep going if their kids are something like medical or nursing students with placements all over but even then I’d expect the kid to expect to pay themselves and be bloody delighted when mum offered. Kids not in education - why would you?

We bought our 17 year old a car, driving lessons, test, and now insurance, petrol, service etc.

We live out in the sticks with no bus route and we wanted / needed her to drive to give us hours back each week. More than she cared about it. So we paid.

She plans to get a full time job after college rather than uni. And at that point, all responsibility for the car passes to her. Although I'm sure we will help out if anything big comes up.

But while she's at college, and her having a car is mainly for our benefit, we pay.