Most all insurance companies require you to list all licensed household members on your auto insurance policy since they are a risk factor the insurance company is permitted to take into account when determining your auto insurance rates. The Michigan insurance regulator, the Office of Financial and Insurance Services, notes in their insurance consumer information sheet that your insurance company will ask about all licensed drivers in your household and look up their driving record as part of the rating process.

While insurance normally covers those that the owner gives permission to drive it, the insurance company also has the right to require as part of your policy that you inform them of all licensed household members so they can pull their driving record and rate you accordingly. Friends that may borrow your car from time to time are not the same type of risk for an insurer and that is why friends and neighbors are not required to be listed on your car insurance policy while household members are. Household members obviously have access to the vehicle that those living outside of your residence do not.

If you have a licensed household member, whether it is your 16 year old daughter, a spouse, roommate, etc, the insurer believes that the person will have access to your vehicle and thus is a rating factor that should be on your insurance policy. If the person is not going to drive the insured vehicle then you may be able to exclude them. When you exclude the person they would not be extended any insurance though if he or she had to drive the car, even if it was in an emergency situation.

Typically insurance companies are allowed to use classifications that reflect a possible exposure for liability on the part of the insurer, in the event that bodily injury or property damage occurs due to the operation of the vehicle by anyone in your household. So your car insurance company can require that licensed household members, such as your teenage daughter, be listed or excluded on your policy. The terms of your policy in fact may state that you need to inform them of licensed household drivers.

If your daughter is just starting the MI graduated driver licensing (GDL) process and only has her learner's license you should notify your insurance company. It may be that they will allow you to wait until she is fully licensed before requiring her to be added or will want her added now at this stage.

You can contact your insurance company to find out what they require of you in regards to listing your 16 year old daughter on the policy. If you have specific Michigan insurance law questions you can contact the MI insurance regulator.