Between the minivan, your commuter car, your spouse’s SUV, and your teenager’s first set of wheels, insuring a family fleet can feel overwhelming, and expensive. The good news? Multi-car policies and bundling discounts could help you save each year while keeping everyone protected on the road.
Jerry has helped 1,169,478 drivers get car insurance quotes over the past year, including families. This guide covers everything you need to know about insuring your loved ones.
Jerry pulls up to 20 quotes from top rated carriers.
What is family car insurance?
Family car insurance isn’t a special type of policy. It’s really about structuring your coverage to protect multiple drivers and cars in your household efficiently.
Most families accomplish this through a multi-car policy, which bundles all your cars under one plan with shared benefits and discounts.
A well-designed family policy typically includes:
🚗 Multiple cars on a single policy.
👨👩👧👦 All household drivers listed, including teens.
💰 Multi-car discounts applied to each car.
📋 Flexible coverage levels for different cars.
📅 One renewal date and one payment.
Key takeaway: Family car insurance is simply a multi-car policy that bundles all your household’s cars and drivers together. This gives you one bill, one renewal date and ideally discounts on every car.
What coverage do families need?
Families face unique risks. More drivers means more exposure to accidents, and protecting assets like your home and savings becomes critical.
Here’s what to consider for the main coverage types.
Jerry recommends: If you have teen drivers, don’t skimp on liability insurance. Consider getting limits of at least 100/300/100. Teens are more likely to crash, so higher limits protect you if they cause an accident with injuries or property damage.
Jerry can help your family get covered
Finding the right coverage for your whole family can be tedious. Comparing quotes for multiple drivers, figuring out discounts and making sure everyone’s protected takes time.
That’s where Jerry comes in. Jerry compares rates from over 50 insurers in minutes, so you can see real quotes for your entire household. Simply answer a few questions about your family’s cars and drivers, and Jerry shows you side-by-side options tailored to your needs.
You can also bundle your home and auto insurance through Jerry for even bigger savings, plus you get the convenience of managing everything in one place.
Who can be on a family car insurance policy?
A multi-car family policy can include anyone who lives in your household and regularly drives your cars.
-
Spouses and domestic partners.
-
Children, including teens with learner’s permits or licenses.
-
Adult children who’ve moved back home and live with you.
-
Parents or other relatives living with you.
-
Roommates, in some cases.
-
Friends or family who don’t live with you.
-
Drivers with cars at a different address, with the exceptions of college students.
-
Cars used for business purposes.
Key takeaway: Anyone who lives in your household and regularly drives your cars can be on your family policy, but drivers at a different address generally can’t.
What to expect when adding a teen to your family’s policy
Teen drivers are statistically the riskiest drivers on the road, which means they’re expensive to insure. Adding a teenager to your family policy will increase your car insurance costs, but it’s typically much more affordable than if they were on their own policy.
Lower car insurance costs with a teen driver by:
🎓 Taking advantage of good student discounts.
🚗 Having your teen complete an approved defensive driving course.
📱 Opting your teen driver into a telematics program, like DriveShield.
🚙 Giving your teen the lowest-value car to drive.
🛡️ Only letting your teen drive a car with high safety ratings.
⏰ Limiting nighttime driving.
Key takeaway: Adding a teen to your policy will raise rates, but it’s still cheaper than insuring them separately. Lower the cost with good student discounts, telematics programs and assigning them your safest, lowest-value car.
Learn more: Cheap car insurance for teens
Should families get umbrella insurance?
With multiple drivers, especially inexperienced ones, families face higher liability risks. If your teen causes a serious accident, your policy’s liability limits could be quickly exhausted. That’s where umbrella insurance comes in.
Umbrella insurance provides:
-
Extra liability coverage beyond your auto and home policy limits.
-
Coverage for legal defense costs.
-
Coverage for claims your auto policy may not cover, like libel and slander.
Jerry recommends: If you have teen drivers or significant assets, like a home or savings, umbrella insurance can be a smart buy. It adds $1M+ in liability protection for typically just a few hundred dollars a year.
Learn more: Umbrella insurance
Tips for getting the best family car insurance
Follow these tips to get the best coverage at the right price for your family.
📦 Bundle everything
Combine your auto, home, umbrella and even life insurance for maximum savings.
🎓 Stack discounts
You’ll see savings by stacking common discounts like good student, safe driver, multi-car together.
📈 Raise deductibles
Higher deductibles lower premiums, but be sure you can afford the higher amount in case of an accident.
🚙 Match coverage to the car
You should get full coverage for newer cars, but if a car is worth less than $5,000, you may only need a liability-only policy for it.
Jerry recommends: You’ll find the best rates by comparing car insurance quotes annually, which the Jerry app can do automatically for you.
It only takes 2 minutes to sign up at Jerry.
faq
-
💰 Is it cheaper to have all family cars on one policy?
-
🛡️ Can different cars on the same policy have different coverage levels?
-
🏠 Do all drivers on a multi-car policy have to be related?
-
🎓 What’s the best way to reduce insurance costs when adding a teen?
-
📚 Can my college student stay on my policy?
-
💥 What happens if one driver on the policy has an accident?
-
☂️ Do I need umbrella insurance for my family?
-
🚗 How many cars can be on one policy?
Methodology
Data included in this analysis comes from policies that Jerry has quoted within the last 6 months for drivers with a clean record and that have full coverage, unless stated otherwise. Data related to violations, accidents or credit scores pull from quote data from the last 18 months. Jerry services 48 states and offers a range of insurance companies to choose from.
Ben Moore is a writer and editor at Jerry and an auto insurance expert. He previously worked as a writer, editor and content strategist on NerdWallet’s auto insurance team for five years. His work has been published in The Associated Press, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, MarketWatch, Nasdaq and Yahoo News. He also served as a NerdWallet spokesperson, with appearances on local broadcast television and quotes in Martha Stewart and Real Simple magazine.
Ben has an extensive background in digital marketing, working on affiliate and programmatic advertising campaigns for brands like Cabela’s, H&R Block and Sears. He holds a bachelors degree in marketing from Olivet Nazarene University.
