Insurance company guidelines differ with regards to if you can take your child off your auto insurance policy when they leave and go off to school (college, university, etc) and do not take a car with them. Many insurance carriers will still require you to keep your child on your policy however depending upon how far away your child is attending school you may be able to get a discount.

Insurance companies recognize that when college students come home (for winter, spring and long summer breaks) they have access to the family car and thus want to keep them on the insurance policy. If the child’ school is close enough that he or she may be able to come home more often, say on the weekends, and so has more access to your vehicles for driving than in the eyes of an insurance company that is even more of a reason for the child to remain on your policy.

Many insurance companies though will reduce the premiums if the college your child is going to is more than a specific distance (100 miles, for example is the norm) from your home. Also you can see if your child was a primary driver on a car if they can be bumped down to an occasional driver which should also reduce your premium rate. If your child gets good grades you can also ask about a good student discount.

If you have a child that is leaving your home to go off to college you should discuss with your insurance agent what the guidelines are for keeping the child on the policy or if you can take your child off the policy. If your insurer allows you to take the child off the policy once he or she leaves for school find out what would need to be done to make sure the child would be covered if he or she comes home for visits during the school year and drives your car for a few days.

Now if the child takes a car to school with him or her than you will have to figure out if you will continue to carry car insurance on the vehicle or if they will need to get their own insurance for the vehicle, especially if they are going out of state with the car.

As the California Department of Insurance notes when a child goes off to college you will have to give the insurance company the child’s new principal address where the car will be driven and garaged. If your insurance company does not operate in the state where your child will be attending college, you will have to get new insurance in that state normally.

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