Can You Get Car Insurance With a Permit?

Written by  Aaron Besson

Edited by  Bryan Ochalla

+ 1 More

Published Mar 05, 2025 Content was accurate at the time of publication.

Drivers with a learner’s permit can get car insurance, regardless of their age, but they may not need to: In some cases, the car insurance company will let them be on their parents’ policy while they have a permit.

Note that almost all states require permit drivers to have at least liability auto insurance.

How to get learner driver insurance

A driver with a learner’s permit, also called a “provisional license,” can usually get car insurance in one of two ways:

If you want to get added to someone else’s policy, the process is often as simple as having them contact their car insurance company and ask to have you added to the policy as a driver with a learner’s permit. Most insurers will then ask for information like the current policy number, your name and your learner’s permit number.

If you have a learner’s permit and own a car in your name, or if you live by yourself, you will have to buy your own car insurance.

Do learner drivers need car insurance?

Most states require drivers to be on an auto insurance policy, and this includes drivers with a learner’s permit. Usually learner drivers can be on someone else’s car insurance policy until they get their license. After that, they can either get their own policy or stay on a family member’s policy.

Adding a learner driver to your auto insurance may cause your premium to go up with some insurers. If this is the case with your current company, compare car insurance quotes from other companies to see if you can save money.

What car insurance does a learner driver need?

Drivers with a learner’s permit need to have at least the minimum amount of car insurance their state requires. This usually means liability car insurance coverage, but it sometimes also means uninsured and underinsured motorist Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage protects you and your passengers if you’re in an accident with a driver who doesn’t have car insurance or doesn’t have enough of it. coverage. Some states require personal injury protectionor Personal injury protection, or PIP, covers you and your passengers if you’re injured in an accident, no matter who causes the crash. medical payments coverage as well.

States do not require you to carry full-coverage car insurance, but if your car is financed, your lender will likely require full coverage as part of the lending agreement.

Your state’s minimum car insurance limits may not be enough if you cause an accident that results in extensive medical bills or court costs. Consider raising your coverage limits to what your budget can handle to avoid financial stress after an accident.

How much does learner permit car insurance cost?

You shouldn’t see your car insurance rate go up after adding a learner driver to a current policy. The rate increase will come after the learner driver gets their license.

Car insurance for teens is often expensive because of their lack of driving experience. This is true whether a teen buys their own car insurance or they’re added to a parent’s policy.

Parents in Oregon pay an average of 284% more for car insurance after adding a child to their car insurance, for example. Still, adding a child to your current policy should be cheaper than if you had separate policies. Make sure to compare car insurance quotes from several companies to get the cheapest rate for you and your child.

Car insurance rates with a child driver by company

Company		Parent only	Parent w/ 16-year-old	Cost difference
	Allstate	$2,032	$6,149	$4,117
	American Family	$937	$4,477	$3,540
	Mutual of Enumclaw	$1,076	$4,365	$3,289
	Farmers	$1,614	$7,040	$5,426
	Geico	$1,374	$4,200	$2,826
	Nationwide	$1,271	$5,747	$4,476
	Progressive	$764	$2,486	$1,722
	State Farm	$711	$3,166	$2,455
	Travelers	$1,187	$5,789	$4,602
	USAA*	$704	$2,097	$1,393

How can I save money on car insurance for a learner driver?

Along with comparing quotes, you can save money by taking advantage of car insurance discounts. Car insurance companies offer various discounts to stay competitive.

There are many discounts aimed at young drivers, such as:

Methodology

LendingTree uses insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services using publicly sourced insurance company filings. Rates are based on an analysis of hundreds of thousands of car insurance quotes for drivers in Illinois, Nebraska, Oregon and Texas. Prices are shown for comparative purposes only. Your own rates may be different.

Unless noted otherwise, rates are for 16-year-old drivers and 30-year-old parent drivers with good credit, a clean driving record and a 2015 Honda Civic EX.

Minimum liability policies provide liability coverage with the state’s required minimum limits.

Full coverage includes:

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Our team of insurance experts rated insurance companies based on several categories. These categories include average rates, discounts, coverage options, third-party customer service ratings and app/website experience. We weighted these categories based on what customers value in an insurance company.

For third-party customer service ratings, we included complaint index scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and financial strength ratings from AM Best. NAIC complaint index scores are used to determine how satisfied customers are with their claims, while financial strength ratings from AM Best reflect the ability to pay out claims.
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*USAA is only available to active duty military, veterans and their families.