Reader Question:
My sixteen-year-old just got her license the other day, so it’s time to add her to our insurance. I know that prices are crazy for young drivers, but is there a way to avoid that?
Amy
Great to hear from you, Amy.
Higher premiums on insurance for teen drivers is pretty much unavoidable, and sometimes it’s a good idea to avoid the ‘cheaper is better’ attitude. Prices for teens are high for a reason–that reason being that teens get into car accidents and commit traffic violations at much higher rates than older adults. Because of that, you’ll want to get your teenager more than just the minimum liability insurance. Getting fuller coverage for your teenager will, of course, increase the cost of your insurance by a good amount, but it’s still a lot better than the cost of repairs and medical bills should they get into an accident.
Even though you want to opt for the higher price in this case, there’s still a lot that you can do to take off the edge with cheaper rates.
- Add your teenager to your own insurance policy instead of getting them their own. The more cars you have on your policy, the cheaper the overall price.
- Make sure they keep a good driving record. With a female driver, this helps a lot, because with a good history of driving that lacks traffic violations and accidents, her premium can be lowered. For males it doesn’t have as much effect, and their prices stay pretty much the same despite their good record until they reach 25.
- Is your teen keeping up in school? Suprising though it may be, a good grade point average can actually get you lower insurance rates! Insurance company figure that if a teen is responsible enough to pull good grades in school, they’re responsible enough to drive carefully, too.
- Have them take a driver’s education course. Some states require it anyway just to get a license, but if yours doesn’t, a few classes for your teen cannot only lower your rates, but make your teen a more responsible driver.
Those are just a few teen-specific things that you can do to lower your rates. Always ask your insurance company up front what kind of discounts they offer, because there could be even more.
Sincerely,
Fashun Guadarrama