How Parents Can Get The Best Car Insurance For Their Teen Drivers
Getting a driver’s license for your teenage kids is a milestone since teaching them how to drive is challenging. Since they’re now behind the wheels, it’s essential to consider their overall safety with car insurance. As a parent, your children’s safety at any age is paramount. However, getting reasonably-priced auto insurance for teen drivers is another herculean challenge.
Insurance is expensive for new drivers since they’re considered a lot riskier due to their lack of experience. Fortunately, USAA auto insurance reviews point out that you can take advantage of car insurance discounts for your teens. With comparison shopping and tons of research, you can find the best rates that won’t decimate your wallet. If you’re concerned about finding reasonable car insurance rates suited for your teen drivers, keep reading.
Why Insurance Is Higher for Teens
Teen drivers are more expensive to insure because they’re new on the road and have less experience with all kinds of driving conditions. On top of that, the assumption is they engage in more at-risk driving behavior. This includes the following:
- Not using seatbelts
- Engaging in distracted driving (eating, talking, listening to music, and phone use)
- Higher rate of using alcohol
- More likely to speed
- Fail to heed road warnings and signs
For the above-noted reasons, teen drivers are projected to be involved in more crashes, especially during nights and weekends. But despite these assumptions, you can still employ money-saving strategies to lower your teenage children’s car insurance premiums. And more importantly, the rates will decrease when they gain more experience and spend more time on the road.
Consider Adding Them to Your Own Policy
Auto insurance for teenagers is cost-prohibitive. If you’re concerned about how you can pay for auto insurance for a teen driver, the cheapest option that could save you the most money is adding your teenage children to your own insurance policy.
To illustrate, if you get your 18-year-old his/her own policy, you could end up spending $5,335 annually for full coverage. That is triple the national average cost, which clocks in at around $1,738 for someone in their 40s. If you add a teen to your existing policy, you could pay lower monthly premiums instead of blowing out your monthly budget.
Money Saving Auto Insurance Hacks for Teen Drivers
Insurance companies charge more for teen drivers than other groups like seniors. That’s why it’s important to shop around for companies more suited for providing insurance for teens. There are discounts and other cost-saving measures to lower the auto insurance costs for teenagers. Check out the following measures that could help you mitigate costs:
Star Student Rates
Is your teen an A-student? If so, you could take advantage of a good student discount. Car insurers often offer discounted rates for teens who are at the top of their class. Insurance companies assume that young drivers who are diligent students and responsible when it comes to schooling are more likely to be reliable and careful drivers. With this, they get lower insurance premiums than those with poor grades who are seen as possible to file a claim. If you have teens with stellar report cards, ask your insurance provider about securing an excellent student discount.
Take a Defensive Driving Class
Unfortunately, there are a lot of accidents in the teenager category compared to drivers in other age groups. These historical records result in increased rates. Auto insurance companies promote safety driving classes for teens to combat these harrowing stats. These courses are specially crafted to teach young and inexperienced teen drivers road rules and driving techniques that keep them safe. Teenagers receive a refresher course on traffic regulations and are taught defensive maneuvers for different road conditions. Completing the safety courses results in a reward in the form of a teenage driving discount. But, of course, the ultimate prize is staying safe on the road.
Low-mileage Discount
Does your teen only use the car to go to a nearby school? Consider taking advantage of a low-mileage discount. You can take advantage of a pay-per-mile option that charges you premiums based on the actual miles traveled by your teen.
Distant Student Offer
If your teen driver attends college far away and leaves his/her car in your garage, you could take advantage of a distant student discount offer. Since your teen could take a bike, commute, or walk while in college, this leaves the car unattended most of the time. Insurance companies offer discounts for those away from home (usually 100 miles or more).
Type of Car
One primary factor affecting insurance costs is the type of car your teens drive. Clearly, luxury cars like Porsche or Maybach are expensive to insure. In contrast, a modest secondhand sedan like a Toyota will be much cheaper. Similarly, a new car with safety driving features like anti-theft, automatic stop, and parking assist could lower premiums. Cars with safety features lessen the risk, which could positively impact your car insurance rates.
Install Telematics
Thanks to modern technology, car insurance providers can monitor your teenager’s driving behavior. You could do it through a built-in system, a plug-in, an app, or a combination of plug-in and app. These electronic devices track driving habits such as miles traveled, speed of the vehicle, cornering, pressing of brakes, and the like. Good driving behavior is rewarded with a discount on the cost of insurance. If your teens are not squeamish about getting tracked and having their data studied by others, this is an excellent option for securing a discounted car insurance policy.
Finding Cheap Car Insurance for Teens Is Not Impossible
Finding cheap car insurance for teens is difficult. Teens are considered inexperienced and risky by insurers. As a result, your teenaged children’s policies could cost thousands of dollars. But as a start, you can consider adding them to your own policy to mitigate insurance costs.
However, you eventually have to get them their individual policy, especially if they have their own car and drive daily to school. Although getting car insurance for your teen can be tricky, finding a good car insurance rate is not impossible. With proper preparation and research, you can take measures like telematics and driving courses to get discounts. Most importantly, you must compare and shop for the best rates from multiple companies.
