Why Car Insurance for Teens Are Usually Expensive
Tips on How to Get Cheap Car Insurance for Teens
If you are in your teens and you are planning to get your first car insurance policy, you should expect quotes that are higher than what experienced drivers would probably get. You may want to know why car insurance for teens are unnecessarily expensive even when they don’t have history of accidents or claims. I will let you understand the reasons in the course of this article.
Before going into the details of the article, it is important that you understand that insurance companies usually take a lot of things into consideration before deciding on what to charge their customers as premium. They don’t charge their premium arbitrarily. They will consider certain factors that are peculiar to you and that of the environment in general. For example, if you live in a very populous state where there are always many vehicles on the roads, expect your car insurance premium to be high. The reason is that, insurance companies assume that the propensity for one to get involved in an accident is high where there are many vehicles on the roads. That is just an example. Also, if you live in a city where incidence of crime and thefts is very high, this will also impact your car insurance premium. The type of your car is also one of the determining factors for the car insurance premium that you will have to pay.
Read Also: Impact of Cheap Gas on Auto Insurance Rates
Coming to you as a person, factors that can influence the car insurance premium that you will be charged include your age, marital status, credit score, driving record etc. Now, back to the reasons why car insurance for teens or young drivers will likely be higher than the car insurance premium experienced drivers will pay. The factors enumerated below are few of the reasons why the premium on car insurance for teens or young drivers could be high.
Statistics: Insurance companies rely so much on statistics to predict what may likely happen in the future. Just as mentioned above, if the statistics show that where you live is prone to crime, theft or accident, insurers will assume that there is possibility that you may fall victim. To be more specific, their statistics may reveal that for every one hundred cars insured in a city, that one will get involved in an accident. The insurance companies will like to charge premium that will be able to cover the repairs of such car. That is, the premium that one hundred people will pay on their car should adequately cover the repair of the one car that may likely have accident while they still make profits. Going by statistics, teens and young drivers are the ones that get involved in accidents most. That is why it is not uncommon to see the car insurance for teens and young drivers to be higher than what his/her parent pay.
No driving records: If you are a teen or young driver, the fact that you don’t have accident or claim history should be to your advantage. However, this may not necessarily hold true when it comes to car insurance for teens and young drivers. Insurance companies are more sceptical about people without driving records. This is because; they don’t know your driving habits yet. They can’t tell whether you drive recklessly or not. So, to be at a safer side, they will assume that you are risky. So, they may charge you the same car insurance rate that they will probably charge someone who has been involved in an accident.
Lack of Driving Experience: Young drivers and teens usually lack driving experience. Just like any skill, you become perfect by the reason of use or practice. It takes practice to gain experience. You can’t consider the skill of someone who has just gotten his driver’s license with someone who has been driving for the past ten years. Even, if a corporate company wants to hire a driver, they will possibly require some years of experience. This is because; they don’t want to hire somebody who will pose a risk to the company. Inexperienced drivers pose more risks than the experienced ones. In this regards, insurance companies will put a premium on the car insurance rates that they will charge teens and young drivers because of their lack of experience.
Read Also: Why Cheapest Car Insurance Quote May Not Be the Best
Recklessness: You can’t talk about youths and not talk about their exuberance. This exuberance also reflects in the ways they do things including the way they drive. If you see somebody driving at the top of his speed, try to check the person behind the wheel. You should not be too surprised to discover that the person is a teen or a young driver. Adults and married people tend to drive more responsibly than teens. Adults will first think about the implications of what they want to do before doing it. But teens will like to experiment things first for them to see the likely results or without even considering what may be the end result. That is why in most cases, the rates at which teens and young drivers get involved in accidents are usually higher than adults. Higher accidents mean higher number of claims. You can hardly see adults violating traffic rules or getting a ticket. I am not saying emphatically that this will not happen to adults but teens and young drivers are mostly the culprits in this area. Also, teens and young drivers don’t mind drinking when they know that they will drive. They are the ones that usually engage in driving in the nights. They go to parties and at times get drunk. All these habits lead to reckless driving. Have you ever seen a drunken person that he is actually himself? Even though they may try to keep their composure, their drunkenness will soon betray them. You can just assume what a drunken person sitting behind wheels can do. So, all these constitute risks to the insurance companies. This is one of the reasons why car insurance for teens and young drivers will always be higher that the car insurance premium the experienced drivers will pay. I may not blame insurance companies for this.
Distractions: Driving requires that you concentrate and remain focused. Teens and young drivers are more distracted more than adults. They don’t mind making or receiving calls while driving. Some of them even engage in texting messages or watching videos while driving. What can be more distracting than these? If you are still a young driver, you may not be doing all these. But unfortunately, that is how insurance companies see teens in general. Some of them may even advertise cheap car insurance for teens and young drivers. That is not to say that it is totally cheap. They will only reduce your car insurance premium if you meet some certain conditions. That is why I will be sharing with you few tips on how you can get cheaper car insurance for teens below.
Read Also: Effects of Lying to Get Cheap Car Insurance Rate
How to Get Cheap Car Insurance for Teens
With all the points mentioned above, does it mean that there is no way you can get cheap car insurance for teens or young drivers? Of course, there are still some ways that can help you lower your car insurance rate if you are a teen or your driver. The following tips can help you reduce your auto insurance rate to certain extent.
Be a named driver: Your parents can add you to their car insurance policy as one of the named drivers. However, this may increase the premium they will have to pay on their own insurance policy; it will help you build driving records. The additional amount that your parent will likely pay on their car insurance premium may not even be that significant. Your parents can claim special discount if you are about 100 miles away from home.
Enrol in safe driving course: If you are a young driver, you will be able lower your car insurance premium if you enrol in a safe driving course. This will boost your driving skill thereby reducing the chance that you may likely get involved in an accident. Safe driving course will also equip you on different road signs.
Earn top grade: Do you know that there are insurance companies that reward the hard working students that have higher grades with some discount. As a student, you can actually qualify for certain discount. Therefore, you should not hesitate to ask your insurer.
Increase deductibles: This is not restricted to car insurance for teens. Generally, it applies to all types of insurance. It is one of the proven ways of lowering the cost of insurance. How does the deductible work? If you have deductibles on your insurance policy and get involved in an accident, you will need to pay the amount you set as deductible before the insurer will pay their own portion toward the repair of the car. As a young driver, you may need to think very well before you go for this option as a way of reducing the car insurance premium to pay. If you are involved in an accident and you are at fault, you may find it difficult to pay your deductible if the amount is too high.
Use driving tracking device: If you are sure of your driving skill, you can opt to install a driving tracking device called telematics in your car. This will allow your insurer to monitor your driving. With telematics, the insurance company will be able to monitor your speed and how you apply brake. Over time, if the insurer is pleased with your driving skill, they may likely reduce your car insurance premium. If you install telematics in your car, you need to drive very carefully. Otherwise, it will amount to reporting yourself to the insurance company.
Buy used car. Teens like driving flashy cars but you can choose to be different if actually you want cheap car insurance for teens or young drivers. If you buy used car, the cost of repairing such car will not be the same as a new car. This will definitely reflect in the quotes you will get. However, you should ensure that you buy the car that is safe and that will not keep developing faults so that you don’t keep spending money on repairs.
Read Also: How to Get Really Cheap Car Insurance Quotes
Shop around: Even though insurance companies may seem to offer the same car insurance, their rates are not the same. Therefore, if you can shop around very well, there is tendency that you will be able to save some bucks on your auto insurance. However, when you are shopping around, you should ensure that you compare apples with apples. It is also important that you ask questions on the areas that seem not clear to you.