co signer on a car and need to get insurance but the title holder has a bad driving record what do you suggest?

The first thing to understand is that you have raised two elements of responsibility as a co signer for the individuals vehicle. The first area of responsibility is for the payment of the vehicle, which I assume is the principal reason for your co signature in the first place. As a co signatory you are responsible for any and all of the payments for the vehicle if the primary owner and driver fails to make any payments. As a co signatory you can also be sued for failure by the primary owner and driver to make payments and the ultimate judgement can be enforced against you as equally as it can be against the primary driver/owner.

The second part of your question relates to who is paying for the insurance for the vehicle. If the primary has a bad record, you may be required to pay a higher premium based n the nature of his driving record. You may also be required to be the primary on the insurance policy which means that you would be directly responsible for the insurance premiums. In this instance you would need to have a separate agreement with the primary driver to pay you for the monthly insurance premiums that you are required to pay. Regardless of whether the primary driver reimburses you for the insurance payments you are directly responsible for the insurance premiums.

To protect yourself against the primary driver failing to meet his obligations, you should be listed as co-owner on the vehicle title. You should also have an agreement with the primary that states that if he or she fails to make either the vehicle payment or the insurance premium payment, you will be able to take possession of the vehicle without notice. Having your name on the title will give you the legal right of possession.