The North Carolina Department of Insurance notes that if your child does not own a car; make sure the insurer knows which car the teen will be driving and whether it will be primary or occasional use. Furthermore they say that your child does not need to be rated on the most expensive vehicle, the rates should apply to the vehicle your child principally operates. If the child is an occasional operator, the rates would apply to the vehicle your child most frequently operates.

We asked the NC Department of Insurance about your specific situation to which they responded that what your insurance company stated is a rule from the personal auto insurance manual for the State of North Carolina. This personal auto rule applies to all insurance companies writing auto insurance in the State of North Carolina.

The manual states (NC-GR-4 - Section F Rule 2) that if there are two or more autos in the same household as the applicant, the inexperienced operator rates shall be applied separately to the number of autos equal to the number of inexperienced operators. Inexperienced operator rates shall not be used in rating such autos in excess of the number of inexperienced operator.

The inexperienced operator surcharge(s) shall be applied to the auto(s) which the inexperienced operator principally operates. In the case of an occasional operator, the surcharge shall be applied to the auto most frequently operated by the inexperienced operator.

Since the number of cars in your household is the same as the number of licensed drivers than each driver would be a principal on one vehicle. If there were more drivers than cars then a driver could be an occasional driver listed for the car he or she operated the most.