Teen Driving and Your Insurance Rates

Once your teen is of age, and ready to get behind the wheel, you will find that insuring them will raise your premiums considerably. However, there is hope.  If you and your teen follow these steps, you can keep the costs from continuing to rise.

1. Purchase a safe, conservative car. Certain cars cost less to insure. For instance, buy a sedan over a sports car every time. Sedans are much less likely to attract both police officers and auto thieves.
2. Maintain good grades. If your teenager keeps their grades up (typically a 3.0 or higher should do it) discounts are available.
3. Take driver’s ed and assisted driving. Assisted or supervised driving (a driving permit, as opposed to a license) is now a requirement in many states, including California, and completion of 50 hours can help keep rates down.
4. Higher deductibles. As with all insurance, the higher your deductible, the lower your premium. Setting deductibles depends on how much risk you are willing to assume.
5. Avoid mistakes. Mistakes on the road can be very costly, and potentially very dangerous. Help your teen learn how to avoid making mistakes on the road by following some basic safety steps.

 

• Limit the number of passengers your teen is allowed to have in his car at any given time.
• Keep nighttime driving to a minimum. If they do not need to drive at night, do not let them.
• Keep cell phones in the glove compartment or turned off. Distracted drivers have the highest accident rates and cell phones are one of the biggest culprits. Do not allow your teens to use them while they are driving.

While adding your teen to your policy is always going to send your rates northward, following these simple tips can keep them manageable in most cases.

This content is offered for educational purposes only and does not represent contractual agreements. The definitions, terms and coverages in a given policy may be different than those suggested here and such policy will be governed by the language contained therein.  No warranty or appropriateness for a specific purpose is expressed or implied.