The average high school and college student needs to deal with a lot of dangers in their lives. The high rate of car accidents, alcoholism, pregnancy and other issues arising among students means that parents and students need to maintain vigilance in staving off problems. Some parents keep their students under their auto insurance policy to protect them financially from their own mistakes. Other parents choose to have a separate student policy issued from their insurance or encourage their children to purchase insurance to learn a lesson about fiscal responsibility early in life.

Students who purchase their first new automobile must have full insurance coverage to protect their investment. Full insurance coverage features collision and comprehensive coverage that protect the vehicle in any circumstance. Students need to understand the distinction between collision and comprehensive coverage to avoid increasing their premiums. The deductible for collision coverage pays for damage done in an accident where the student policy holder is held responsible. Comprehensive coverage provides full coverage for natural disasters, vandalism and other actions not covered by standard collision coverage. Young insurance holders need to understand that collision claims will damage insurability in the future while comprehensive coverage is ideal because claims do not harm future premiums because the driver is not at fault.

Parents should take their students to an insurance agent to go over the basic legal requirements needed with a new insurance policy. Each state has a distinct set of requirements for bodily injury liability, property damage liability and other benefit types to protect every motorist. The problem with minimum insurance levels is that they are insufficient to cover the total damage done in the case of serious crashes. Insurance agents have been trained and licensed by the state to provide responsible information to every customer who wants an insurance policy. It is important for parents to ask the right questions of an agent and put student drivers through the process of researching their coverage. Most states have defensive driving courses and other educational efforts that feature a section on insurance coverage that is instructive for student drivers.