Can You Get Insurance with a Learner’s Permit?

Though it’s possible to get a separate car insurance policy with a learner’s permit, most new drivers will find it cheaper and easier to join their parents’ existing policies.

Emily Guy Birken
Emily Guy Birken
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Chris Schafer
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Konstantin Halachev
Data reviewed byKonstantin Halachev
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Updated November 30, 2023 at 11:00 AM PST

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For teen drivers, a learner’s permit provides a framework for practicing their driving skills. But how do new drivers afford auto insurance while they’re still on a learner’s permit?

It’s possible for an unlicensed driver to purchase an auto insurance policy while carrying a learner’s permit, but such an insurance policy can be very costly. Instead, most families prefer to get coverage for an unlicensed teen driver through a parent’s policy.

Whatever path you pursue, here’s what you need to know about getting car insurance with a learner’s permit.

Quick Facts
  • Many insurers don’t charge additional fees for adding a learner’s permit driver to an existing auto policy.

  • Parents can expect their insurance premiums to increase after their teen driver becomes fully licensed.

  • Young drivers may be able to reduce their insurance costs by taking a driver’s education course and maintaining good grades.

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Do you need insurance with a learner’s permit?

Whether you’re fully licensed or carrying a learner’s permit, you must have auto insurance to drive. You must carry a learner’s permit for anywhere from six to 12 months before graduating to a full license, depending on where you live. This means you’ll need six to 12 months of insurance coverage while learning the rules of the road under a learner’s permit.

In most cases, a teen driver on a learner’s permit will already be covered by their parents’ or guardians’ auto insurance policy. Fortunately, adding a teenager with a learner’s permit won’t increase your insurance rates in most states.[1] Most states don’t allow insurers to raise parents’ insurance premiums until the new driver is fully licensed. However, this is legal in Illinois, Indiana, and Maryland.

Live in Illinois, Indiana, or Maryland?

Your insurance premiums won’t necessarily go up after adding a teen driver with a learner’s permit to your insurance.

Heather Zoller, owner of American Heritage Insurance, based out of Eldersburg, Maryland, explains that even if the state allows insurers to increase insurance rates, “95% of companies don’t charge you more with a learner’s permit driver on your policy.”

Of the small percentage of insurers that do raise rates, Zoller says it’s usually reduced compared to adding a fully licensed driver.

If parents choose to specifically exclude a young driver from their policy, they may need to purchase separate insurance coverage for the new driver. However, this will generally be costlier than simply adding their teen to their policy.

How to get car insurance with a learner’s permit

Drivers with a learner’s permit can either get their own insurance policy or be added to their parents’ insurance policy. Here’s how each of these options works.

Get your own policy

It’s relatively rare to get your own car insurance with a learner’s permit. Generally, only teens living independently from their parents or adults and learning to drive for the first time may need this type of insurance. But if you can’t be added to your parents’ policy for any reason, you’re responsible for getting appropriate car insurance coverage.

Rates for learner’s permit drivers are likely to be quite expensive, however, since inexperienced drivers are more likely to get into accidents. In addition, teens younger than 18 can’t enter into a legal insurance contract on their own and will need parental permission to purchase insurance.

If you’re either an adult or a teen driver and live alone, you might not need a separate policy while driving on a learner’s permit. If you borrow someone else’s vehicle to practice driving, you’ll be covered by their policy, as long as they’re a licensed driver and in the car with you.

Here’s a look at the pros and cons of getting your own policy.

Pros
  • Allows independent or emancipated teens to drive legally on a learner’s permit

  • Financially protects drivers with learner’s permits

Cons
  • More expensive than adding a driver with a learner’s permit to a parent’s policy

  • Teens younger than 18 must get parental permission to sign an insurance contract

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Add a driver to a parent’s or guardian’s insurance policy

Adding a new driver to a parent’s or guardian’s insurance policy is the more common method of getting insurance coverage for drivers with a learner’s permit. Even first-time adult drivers are more likely to get added to a spouse’s or housemate’s insurance while learning with that person’s car, instead of getting their own learner’s permit insurance.

Simply adding a new driver to an existing policy usually doesn’t increase rates, which means this is a much cheaper option than purchasing a separate policy for a new driver. Additionally, many insurers offer a number of discounts that can help reduce insurance costs when you add a new driver.

In general, adding a driver with a learner’s permit to an existing policy will also be simpler logistically because most insurers have processes and procedures in place for adding a newly permitted driver to an existing policy. These insurers may not have policies in place for purchasing a new policy for such a driver.

Pros
  • Usually doesn’t increase rates for the already existing policy

  • Well-established processes for adding a newly permitted driver

Cons
  • Not available for emancipated teen drivers

  • Once the new driver becomes fully licensed, rates for the existing policy will increase

How much car insurance does a teen driver need?

Every driver, both new and experienced, must carry their state’s required minimum liability insurance. Liability insurance only covers the costs of property damage and bodily injury to a third party.

If a driver carrying this kind of coverage causes an accident, the liability insurance pays for property damage and medical care for the other party involved. However, liability coverage won’t pay to repair or replace the at-fault driver’s car or pay for the medical care the driver or their passengers may need.

Teens driving in a no-fault state will also have to carry personal injury protection (PIP) coverage as part of their liability-only insurance.[2] PIP insurance pays for your and your passengers’ medical care if you cause an accident.[3]If you don’t live in a no-fault state, you may have the option of adding PIP insurance to cover the teen driver.

Liability-only insurance for teen drivers can be quite expensive compared to insuring older or more experienced drivers. Adding other types of coverage to the policy will increase your insurance costs, but it may be worth the price for the extra peace of mind. Here are some other coverages that parents of teen drivers may want to consider:

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/x/169fdfde11/liability-coverage.svg

    Collision coverage

    This kind of insurance pays for damage to your vehicle if you cause an accident. Without this coverage, you’ll have to pay out of pocket to repair or replace the car if you’re at fault.

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/x/665da91bf7/comprehensive-coverage.svg

    Comprehensive coverage

    If your car is damaged or lost because of something other than a collision — such as theft or bad weather — comprehensive coverage will pay to repair or replace the vehicle. This coverage may not be as important as collision coverage for a teen driver unless you have reason to believe your teen’s car is vulnerable to theft or other non-collision damage.

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/x/5285c4cd74/uninsured-or-underinsured-motorist-coverage.svg

    Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage

    This coverage kicks in if you’re hit by a driver who’s uninsured or who doesn’t carry enough insurance to cover your damages.[4]

Cheapest car insurance for teen drivers

Finding the cheapest car insurance policy for your teen driver may require some comparison shopping. Getting quotes from a number of companies can help you find the insurer with the best coverage for you at the best rate.

Here’s a list of the most affordable quotes for teen drivers from several top insurers.

The below rates are estimated rates current as of: Thursday, November 30 at 11:00 AM PST
Data reviewed by Konstantin Halachev
Headshot of Konstantin Halachev, VP of Engineering at Insurify
Konstantin HalachevVice President of Engineering
  • 7+ years experience in data analysis

  • Ph.D. in Computational Biology

Konstantin has led data teams across multiple industries, including insurance, travel, and biology. He’s led Insurify’s engineering team for more than three years.

Insurance CompanyAverage Monthly Quote
Auto-Owners128
USAA147
GEICO153
State Farm176
Allstate229
Elephant249
Mercury256
Progressive269
American Family277
Nationwide296
Liberty Mutual316
Foremost493
Disclaimer: Table data sourced from real-time quotes from Insurify's 50-plus partner insurance providers and quote estimates from Quadrant Information Services. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer's unique driver profile.

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Discounts for permit drivers

Auto insurance companies traditionally offer customers a number of ways to discount their premium costs, and that goes for newly permitted and teen drivers, too. Here are several of the most common discounts available for new drivers:

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/x/ba9869f2f9/defensive-driving.svg

    Driver’s education discount

    Many insurers offer a discount for teens who complete a driver’s education or defensive driving course.

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/100x100/6629dc84bb/remote-work-desk.svg

    Good student discount

    If your teen maintains a B average or above, that could mean lower premiums from your insurance company.

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/x/f9e1d7766e/saving-bundle.svg

    Multi-policy discount

    Bundling your auto insurance with other insurance products could get you a discount on all your policies. If you’ve been dragging your feet on bundling, adding a teenage driver could be the incentive you need to take advantage of this discount.

  • illustration card https://a.storyblok.com/f/162273/x/38dc81ba93/drive-1.svg

    Telematics insurance discount

    Installing a telematics device in your teen’s car will monitor their driving behavior and could lead to lower insurance premiums.

Car insurance for permit drivers FAQs

It can be confusing to figure out your car insurance needs when your teen gets a learner’s permit. Here are answers to some of the most common questions about this process.

  • Do you have to add a permit driver to your car insurance?

    A permit driver doesn’t have to be added to their parent’s car insurance, but the new driver must be covered by a valid insurance policy. Generally, adding the teen to their parents’ policy is the cheapest and simplest way to provide insurance coverage, and it usually doesn’t increase the cost of premiums until after the new driver is fully licensed.

  • How much is car insurance for permit drivers?

    It usually costs nothing for a permit driver to be added to an existing auto insurance policy. If the permit driver is learning to drive using a parent’s car and with the parent supervising, then it usually makes sense to add the permit driver to the existing policy. The cost of a separate car insurance policy for a permit driver can be quite high, and permit drivers younger than 18 must have their parents’ permission to purchase an insurance policy.

  • How much car insurance do permit drivers need?

    All drivers must carry the minimum state-required liability insurance, and this includes permit drivers. This minimum level of insurance, known as liability-only coverage, pays for property damage and medical care costs for any third parties involved in an accident where the insured driver is at fault.

    In some states, minimum coverage requirements include personal injury protection (PIP) insurance, which pays for the driver’s and passengers’ medical care if the insured driver is at fault in an accident.

    In addition to liability-only coverage, parents of permit drivers may also want to consider collision coverage, which pays for damage to the vehicle if the driver causes an accident, comprehensive coverage, which pays for non-collision damage, and uninsured motorist coverage, which kicks in if a driver without insurance causes an accident.

  • Do permit drivers need car insurance?

    Like any other driver on the road, permit drivers must carry auto insurance to get behind the wheel. At the very least, permit drivers must carry the minimum required auto insurance, known as liability-only coverage.

Sources

  1. Car And Driver. "Adding Driver to Insurance: Everything You Need to Know." Accessed July 13, 2023
  2. Insurance Information Institute. "Background on: No-fault auto insurance." Accessed July 13, 2023
  3. Insurance Information Institute. "What is covered by a basic auto insurance policy?." Accessed July 13, 2023
  4. Insurance Information Institute. "Protect yourself against uninsured motorists." Accessed July 13, 2023
Emily Guy Birken
Emily Guy Birken

Emily Guy Birken is a former educator, lifelong money nerd, and a Plutus Award-winning freelance writer who specializes in the scientific research behind irrational money behaviors. Her background in education allows her to make complex financial topics relatable and easily understood by the layperson.

Her work has appeared on The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Kiplinger's, MSN Money, and The Washington Post online.

She is the author of several books, including The 5 Years Before You Retire, End Financial Stress Now, and the brand new book Stacked: Your Super Serious Guide to Modern Money Management, written with Joe Saul-Sehy.

Emily lives in Milwaukee with her family.

Chris Schafer
Edited byChris SchaferSenior Editor
Chris Schafer
Chris SchaferSenior Editor
  • 15+ years in content creation

  • 7+ years in business and financial services content

Chris is a seasoned writer/editor with past experience across myriad industries, including insurance, SAS, finance, Medicare, logistics, marketing/advertising, and many more.

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Konstantin Halachev
Data reviewed byKonstantin HalachevVice President of Engineering
Headshot of Konstantin Halachev, VP of Engineering at Insurify
Konstantin HalachevVice President of Engineering
  • 7+ years experience in data analysis

  • Ph.D. in Computational Biology

Konstantin has led data teams across multiple industries, including insurance, travel, and biology. He’s led Insurify’s engineering team for more than three years.

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