Delivering Headaches
I’m sure you as a parent dread the day your children start driving, as yet another item on the long list of how they were to drive you insane once becoming teenagers. I’m also sure that you probably do not worry about them having a job that would have them excluded from the family auto insurance policy. Excluded’ This is a little known fact, but delivery drivers face this problem. For parents of pizza delivery boys facing this dilemma, read on to know how to ensure your teenager has the needed coverage.
The cost of car insurance is based in large part on how much of a risk a driver or car is. When getting your own policy, you may recall having to answer a lot of questions. That was so the company could evaluate your risk level and figure out exactly how likely you are to need the insurance to ‘cash in. Insurance companies like it when cars are kept safe, which means, paradoxically, keeping them parked rather than driving them around as was their intended purpose. The more time driving, the greater the risk, and therefore the greater the expense to get and stay insured.
It’s pretty obvious where we’re going on this one. In comparison to a nice, safe office job, a person who is on the road during work hours becomes a higher insurance risk. Most car insurance companies just would not take such a high risk for non-commercial premiums. It may come as a rude shock if your teenager is involved in an accident when delivering pizza and the company refuses to cover the damages. Thousands of dollars could be on your bill, and there could be nothing you can do about it.
Check out an employer before letting your child work for them, and look into how they’re choosing to deal with insurance issues. Since companies making use of delivery drivers are required for them to be insured, many will do this by way of providing company vehicles to use. This lets them save a bit on insurane costs since they’ll have an absolute idea of the number of their cars out driving at any given moment.
There is also a non-owned auto insurance policy. Your teenager gets full liability coverage when they drive around delivering the pizza, or Chinese. The catch is however that it does not provide protection to damages to the vehicle. It would be prudent to ask the insurance company for further details on comprehensive and collision coverage to ensure that your car will be safe when on the road.
As a last resort, you can always just purchase outright a proper commercial auto policy. The cost for this kind of insurance is not insignificant, so it’s not a decision to make lightly. However, if you feel that the risk is there or your teen’s making a long haul of the job, and you have no other options for getting the right coverage, you should probably go for it. No matter how pricey it is upfront, it’s still less than the expense of paying for car repairs and the like yourself. As they say, better safe than sorry.
Susan Reynolds is the content coordinator for a leading South African Insurance Provider who specialises in Car Insurance Options.