Car Insurance Rates for Teenagers

Finding affordable car insurance is hard enough, but finding inexpensive car insurance rates for teenagers is nearly impossible.

Safety class can reduce the premium for a high risk teen driver

When you request insurance quotes from an insurance company, they typically value the cost of your premium on a wide range of factors. Once you add a teenager to your policy, your premium will hit the roof. The reason for this is because, statistically, teens represent the highest-risk category of driver on the road. In order to reduce the risk of financial loss, insurance companies increase car insurance rates for teenagers. However, there are ways to significantly reduce the cost of insuring your teen driver:

• List the teenager as driver of the lowest value car
• Buy your teen a safe (and slow) car
• Choose the highest deductible and no frills
• Place the teen under your own policy
• Encourage good grades
• Have them take a safe driving course

If you are currently facing the dilemma of insuring a teenager, carefully review each of these steps in order to soften the blow to your wallet.

Every insurance company follows the standard practice of pricing the premium based, in part, on a number of characteristics of the vehicle being insured. Much of the price comes from the value of the car, which translates into how much it will cost the insurance company to repair the vehicle if it is ever in an accident. This means that you have some flexibility to use the system to your advantage.

If you will be having your teen drive one of your vehicles, add them as the driver on the vehicle with the lowest value. If you own a 2007 GMC Truck and a 2002 Chevy Malibu, your best option is to list your teen as a driver on the Malibu and make it clear that they will not be driving the newer vehicle.

If you plan on buying your teen a car, first of all, buy used rather than new. Older model cars add significantly less to the cost of your policy than newer cars. Also, you'll save a fortune when it's time to talk to your insurance agent to add your teen to the policy if you make sure to look for vehicles with the following characteristics:

• Buy a vehicle with the highest crash test safety rating.
• Check the National Insurance Crime Bureau for the most stolen vehicle in your state, and avoid buying that make and model.
• Install an anti-theft device in the car.
• Choose a vehicle that's packed with safety equipment, like driver and passenger side airbags, anti-lock brakes, and traction control.
• Pick a non-sporty car that can't go fast, preferably a four-cylinder. The teen will be less likely to get a speeding ticket, and your premium will probably also be lower.

There are additional steps you can take to reduce the cost even further. The car is only half of the equation. The next step is to convince your insurance company that even though your child is a teen, he or she is a safe teen.

Most states require that drivers must take a driver's safety course before they can drive. Even if your state does not require it, make sure that you enlist your child in such a course. When you present the certificate from the completed class to your insurance agent, you will probably get another discount on your policy.

Make sure that you connect good grades with use of the car. If your teen has a semester where they perform poorly in school, take away the car. Not only may this encourage your teen to perform well in school, but the insurance company also rewards high grades. Better yet, have the teen work a part time job, and pay for at least a portion of the monthly insurance costs of having them on the policy. When they get good grades and receive a policy discount, pass on those savings to them so that they can see the financial rewards related to their good performance in school.

There are several techniques to obtaining car insurance for a teen that you should understand. By taking this approach with your policy changes, you'll incur fewer added costs:

• It's much less expensive to add a teen to your policy than obtaining a new individual policy.
• If you are willing to accept a higher out-of-pocket deductible, the cost of your policy will drop drastically. Sometimes, in order to afford adding a teen, parents change to the highest deductible.
• Add the teen's new car to your policy for multiple vehicle discounts.

You are more likely to get better discounts from your existing insurance agent because you already have a relationship with the agent. In order to get the best discounts, offer to transfer your house insurance, boat insurance, and even life insurance policies over to the one insurance company. With more insurance business from you they may be willing to help you reduce the impact of the teen driver on your auto insurance premium. The odds are very good that they'll bend over backwards to give you the lowest possible rate for your teen in order to capture all of the additional business from your other insurance product purchases.

Check out these additional resources for car insurance:

• Cheap Car Insurance
• Auto Insurance Online
• Online Auto Insurance Quotes
• Auto Insurance Rates

• Roadside Assistance Plans
• Full Coverage Dental Insurance
• Low Cost Motorcycle Insurance
• Car Accident Reports

• Free Medical Release Forms
• Sample Medical Release Form
• Guardian Dental Insurance
• Insurance Sample Cancellation Letter
• Sears Appliance Extended Warranty

• Category:Car Insurance
• Insurance Rates
• Cheap Car Insurance
• Car Insurance for Teenagers
• Why is Car Insurance So High for Teenagers