Insurance is one of the biggest expenses associated with car ownership, and it gets even more expensive if you add a teenage driver to your policy. Your insurance company is likely to raise your premiums once your teenage kid starts driving, because teenage drivers have a pretty high risk of getting involved in accidents, due to their immaturity and inexperience, which makes them susceptible to risky driving behaviors, such as speeding, drunk driving and distracted driving. However, there are a few ways for keeping your rates from skyrocketing, including asking for a young driver discount, increasing your deductibles, getting a safer car, and getting your teen to complete a driver’s ed course.
Good Student Discounts
Many insurance companies offer discounts to young drivers who have good grades, since good students are generally regarded to be better drivers. You can save anywhere between 5 and 20 percent if your kid maintains a 3.0 GPA, so you need to encourage them to study hard, and make sure that you mention their record before you purchase insurance.
Get a Safe Car for Your Kid
In addition to giving you a peace of mind that it will keep your kid safe while on the road, buying a safe car can also help you keep your insurance rates down. If you want to add your teenage son or daughter to your policy, you should have them drive a vehicle that is equipped with as many safety features as possible, and has a good safety rating, because driving a safe car means lower accident risk.
Go Without Comprehensive and Collision Coverage
Collision and comprehensive insurance covers damages caused by natural disasters, as well as repairs or replacement of parts due to an accident that is your fault. If your kid drives an older car, your potential payouts on these coverages will likely be lower than your deductibles, so you will end up paying higher premiums than what you could get from your insurer in case of an accident. In addition to this, you can also raise deductibles on some coverages, for example from $500 to $1,000, so that you can get lower premiums. However, raising your deductibles will only save you money if your kid is a safe driver and does not cause accidents very often.
Have Your Kid Enrolled in a Safe-Driving Course
If your teen completes a safe-driving course, it will help make him/her a less risky driver, and they will be eligible for a safe driver discount. By attending such a course, your teen will get to learn the rules of the road, along with safe driving techniques, so that they can know how to avoid accidents, and handle various potentially dangerous traffic situations. Depending on what company you have bought your insurance from, and what state you live in, you might be able to get a 15% discount on your policy this way.
To sum up, if you don’t want your insurance premiums to go up when you add your teenage kid to your policy, you must ask for every discount that is available for young drivers, rearrange your coverages, and make sure your kid is a good student and a safe driver.