Can a parent insure a scooter for a child?

Has your son or daughter just turned 16, and are they eager to hit the road on their own scooter? Safety is, of course, the top priority, so scooter insurance must also be properly arranged. Many parents wonder: Can I insure a scooter for my child? We’ll explain how you, as a parent, can insure a scooter for your child and what the risks are.

Why Should Parents Insure Their Child's Scooter?

Young people pay much higher premiums for their scooter insurance. This is because young people are proportionally much more likely to cause accidents. On top of that, young people often haven’t built up any claim-free years. As a result, insurers have little assurance that the policyholder will treat the scooter with care. That’s why they pose a greater risk to insurers. In insurance, the rule is: the higher the risk, the higher the premium.

In some cases, parents choose to insure their child’s scooter themselves. This is possible if the vehicle registration is in one of the parents’ names. In theory, this sounds good, but in practice, it doesn’t quite work that way. That’s because an insurer always asks who the regular driver is. If that person is a minor, the insurer will still charge a higher premium.

What are the risks?

Sometimes parents try to avoid a higher premium by taking out scooter insurance in their own name and listing themselves as the regular driver, even though that’s not actually the case. This is not recommended! Deliberately providing false information to the insurer can have serious consequences. Did your son or daughter cause damage while riding the scooter? First, insurers already apply an additional deductible if it turns out that someone under the age of 24 caused the damage. In addition, the insurer may withhold compensation if it turns out that you committed fraud when taking out the scooter insurance. Ultimately, this will only end up costing you more.

It’s best to simply take out scooter insurance in your son or daughter’s name (if the license plate is registered to them) or to take out the insurance yourself but list your son or daughter as a regular driver. That way, you might pay a higher premium, but your son or daughter will also build up their own no-claims history.