tl;dr: Insurance rates skyrocket with a teen driver, but there’s a dividend.

Crazy as it may be to believe, I actually had a blogreader ask me if my daughter had passed the test for her driver’s license.

I went on a long venting rant in The Driver’s Test of the Future about the inefficiencies of the current system and he was kind enough to check in.

The answer is, yes, she did.

That was the good news.

The bad news came that evening when I logged onto the insurance website to add her to our policy. Keep in mind this is a young woman who is a good student. Boom, $1200 per year more. Ouch.

Double ouch.

Crypto-native Driver’s Insurance

One day, maybe in her lifetime, there will be a crypto-InsurTech play that resides on her phone and is activated when she drives the car.

The more she drives safely, the lower the rates will go in real-time.

That will be great.

The same business, because of its significantly lower cost structure to operate, will result in a much lower premium.

That will also be great.

For now, though, I discovered another type of way to save money now that she drives.

It comes in the form of time.

Errands and Carpools

At some point, 8 months ago when I started training her, I said something like the following:

“you know all of those errands that Mom sends me on to the grocery store? Or when one of your siblings needs to go somewhere? In the future, if you’re not otherwise occupied, you’ll be doing that.”

I had forgotten I said that at all until the other day.

I had just come back from a walk, passed my eldest daughter (one with license) watching something on Netflix. It was 3.30 in the afternoon. #Covid.

My cell rang. It was my youngest daughter.

“Mom said I could swim on Karen’s pool, but she brought me the wrong bathing suit. It’s too small and I need you to go to my room and then bring it to me.”

I had a moment of dread.

I was about to jump in the shower and get ready for a call. I certainly didn’t feel like running this errand, even though Karen only lives a few minutes away.

“So, can you do it?” she asked.

Then, the magic moment happened.

“Well, no, actually I can’t do it, but I do know someone who can. Please call your sister. She’ll be happy to get you everything you need.”

I walked back into the other room.

“Remember that time I told you that you’d be the point person to run errands when you’re not otherwise occupied?

Your sister is about to call you. She’ll let you know your mission.”

That was a nice payment.