Car Insurance for Teenagers
5 Surefire Ways Parents Can Save Money on Their Teens’ Car Insurance
Teenagers are dreaded by insurance companies. They consider them potential hazards, and as such, they are not cheap to insure. However, there are ways to reduce their insurance costs, and all they require is a little time and effort. Here are five simple ways to reduce the cost of your teen’s driving insurance.
- Know your own driving record and shop around: There are two choices you have when getting your teen insurance. You can add them to your own policy or you may get them their own plan. Generally, if you have a solid driving record, then adding a teen driver to your policy will be cheaper than if you got them one of their own, and if you have a bad record, then it’s usually the other way around. This is where it pays to shop around. It’s easier than ever nowadays to get insurance quotes, and doing your due diligence on this matter will save you a lot of money. You should get quotes from every insurance company you consider and compare them judiciously. Doing your homework is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to save on auto insurance.
- Insurance companies like good grades: Speaking of homework, make sure your teen does theirs. Most insurance companies give decent discounts to teen drivers with high grade point averages. Often a B average is good enough to start receiving discounts, and if your teen has even better grades than that, then it’s likely that the discounts will be even greater. Insurance companies believe good grades are a sign of responsibility, and that they reflect well on the driver’s abilities behind the wheel. Ultimately insurance companies are looking for safe drivers, and that is where our next tip comes from.
- Take driving classes: If your teen enrolls in and finishes driver’s education, you can expect another decrease in your teen’s insurance costs. The savings vary from company to company, but it’s not unheard of to receive discounts of up to 15% just by taking a simple driving course. Your teen can also enroll in safe driver programs, which can teach them the perils of speeding and other traffic violations. The more educated and experienced your teen is behind the wheel, the better their insurance costs will look. There’s also the fact that these courses may help your teen avoid those tickets, which will cause their premiums to skyrocket.
- Get your teen driver a safe vehicle: A safe car can mean a lot of things, but insurance companies are looking for two things in a vehicle. First off, they want it to have things such as airbags and seat belts. Basically the more safety features the car has, the more your insurance company will like it. They also frown upon teenagers driving things like sports cars, which you can probably imagine why, and other possibly dangerous vehicles such as SUVs. Your best bet is a midsized car that has a hard time going past the speed limit.
- Teen specific auto insurance: There are companies out there that provide insurance policies specifically tailored for teen drivers. They are cheap — cheaper then you’d imagine possible for teenage auto insurance, but they come with a few drawbacks. Your teen will have to have rules they must follow such as not being allowed to drive after dark, or only being allowed to drive to and from school. The rules vary from company to company but they must be complied with. This is a great option if you couldn’t afford normal insurance for your driver.