Is it a parents responsibility...

The parents should add the child to their insurance. It is reasonable to ask the child to pay for their SHARE of the insurance. When I was in high school, I had to pay for any long-distance calls to my girlfriend. I also had to pay for the car insurance on my car, but it was just the "added" part to my mom's policy, as that was much cheaper than my getting my own policy.

The only reason I think a teenager should have their own policy is if they proved to their parents they were not responsible enough to be a safe driver and caused the parents' insurance to go up.

People under the age of majority (18) should be on a parent's auto insurance if that child is allowed to drive.

Auto insurance works differently from other types of insurance. It is the CAR that is insured, not the driver. For instance, the standard insurance policy isn't written for a person that has a driver's license but doesn't own a car. If that licensed driver ends up driving a car owned by someone else and with that person's permission, then they are under the insurance policy on the CAR. They can't, nor do they have to, buy a separate policy.

In your case, Mels, your car was driven by an unlicensed driver (15 yrs old) without your permission (stolen). The section of your auto policy that applies might be uninsured motorist IF there was body damage. The other section that applies is those parts where you have coverage for criminal activity committed by someone else (such as vandalism) - IF you have comprehensive. However, if the unlicensed driver who stole your car got into an auto accident, YOUR insurance would have paid for the damage your car created because it is the car that was insured.
 

Yep.  I agree with the others.

They'll go on our auto policy, and they will be paying whatever amount adding them costs. I'm certainly not going to pay my child for the privelage of driving. If they want that privelage, they take on the responsibility that goes with it.

I guess I never really thought about them going on their own policy because I knew it would be much more expensive.  Sort of like cell phones--much cheaper to have us all together than to have separate contracts.  We actually paid for our girls' insurance because it is so ridiculously high these days.  They bought their own car, pay for maintenance and repairs, registration and gas.   We have been discussing how quickly J will need to go on her new policy once she is married. I get different answers from whoever I talk to at our agent's office.  One says as soon as she's married; another says there isn't a big rush (meaning she could wait a month or so).

Here where I am any child 16 to 18 has to be insured, usually through their parents insurance. This is whether they have a license of not. I know on my policy we have to list the drivers on our policy, both myself and my husband are listed. My mom works in the insurance business as did my dad, and if your child drove your car with or without your permission, then had an accident, if they were not listed on the insurance as a driver, there could be criminal charges brought against the parents for allowing an uninsured motorist behind the wheel of the car. I think the fine is like 500 dollars.

I am pretty certain a lot of parents don't even bother with it because it is very expensive. Personally my son is going to have to prove himself before I am going to let him drive whether he has a license or not. We also have laws here prohibiting teenagers from riding in the car together. At one time they tried to regulate teenagers listening to the radio, talking on a cell phone even hands free, and eating while driving. I personally don't know if any of that got put into law, but my state is pretty strict on teenage drivers.

My agent explained it the same as Cookie did. I will be adding my child to my policy and will most likely require her to pay her portion. Not because I can't but because of her personality. I think she will benefit from that kind of responsibility under my wing.