Updated February 19, 2021
As kids get older, you can’t prevent everything, but this protective measure will help them even if they are away at college or you’re not nearby. Independent auto insurance agents from Freeway can compare quotes and insurance packages from a variety of leading providers, so you don’t have to spend hours looking on your own. In this guide, you’ll find out how to get the best type of car insurance for a teenage driver.
As your child gets closer to driving age, there are many feelings at play. While teenagers are excited to gain more freedom and no longer ask for rides, parents have many questions about keeping their kids safe while they are behind the wheel.
During the teen’s “onboarding” process to becoming a full-time driver, the whole family must learn how to stay calm and adjust to the new normal. One way to get peace of mind is to get the best auto insurance policy for your teen.
A good insurance plan protects the household’s finances and can send immediate roadside assistance to teens. As kids get older, you can’t prevent everything like when they were small, but this protective measure will help them even when you can’t be there right away. In this guide, you’ll find out how to get the best type of insurance for a teenage driver.
Why Insurance Matters for Teens
Before your teen officially has keys to a car in hand, you can’t help but ask a simple question. Does your teenager need car insurance? The answer is yes — if anyone is to drive a vehicle, they must be insured.
Driving with insurance isn’t just a legal requirement in most states, but it guards you and your teen against some real financial risks. To protect your teen and family finances, get cheap car insurance for teens that offers enough coverage to help with unexpected situations.
According to the National Safety Council, half of teen drivers crash before graduating high school. That’s the same probability as a coin flip, which makes having insurance protection a no-brainer. Though this statistic does seem alarming, it does improve as drivers mature.
For instance, teens between the ages of 16 to 19 are four times more likely to crash than adults. However, even 16-year-olds are still twice as more likely to crash than an 18- to 19-year-old. Getting good coverage for your teen in the most critical years can make all the difference in your finances.
Practice Makes Perfect
Why do teens crash more than other driver groups? It all comes down to a matter of experience. When one does something over and over again, they naturally get better at the task. This principle applies to everything from cooking to operating a motor vehicle. Teens simply need time to learn and get better at driving.
Driving is a task that becomes more automatic and precise the more you do it. Teens must go beyond the abstract rules of the road they hear in class to having hands-on experience in a vehicle.
The experience of driving alone can be exciting to a young person, but they often have to learn how to be responsible. Distracted driving is a common symptom of new license holders, and it takes experience to develop good driving discipline.
Teens must learn beyond the basic rules of a driving class to learn the nuances of being on the road. For instance, they discover that extra awareness is needed at a busy gas station vs. a quiet two-lane road in the late morning.
We certainly hope your teen doesn’t have to learn by getting into a crash. However, with a dependable insurance plan, they can be on the road with the peace of mind that they are not alone if an incident does occur.
If anything does happen, these fender benders can be covered so that nobody is stuck with large fines or large repair costs. This is why the best car insurance for young drivers should have decent liability coverage limits as well as roadside assistance and bodily insurance liability coverage.
To help you decide on how to buy insurance for your teen, here are some tips to help you save on automobile insurance.
Coverage Options: Pros and Cons
Choosing the best type of insurance for a teenage driver involves various factors, like finding the right plan with all the best deals. You have two main options for insuring your teen:
- Parents can add a child to their current insurance policy.
- Teen drivers can get a standalone plan.
If you are looking for cheap insurance for young drivers, it makes sense to add a teen to your current coverage. You will get the multi-driver discount with this option, which reduces the rate. On the other hand, a standalone plan can also be a good option for parents who prefer their working teens to practice financial responsibility early.
While paying for insurance doesn’t build credit, you can give your child a credit card with a low limit and have them pay through the card. This will establish their credit record early and position them to lower rates for buying another car, renting, or buying a home later in life. The downside is that this standalone rate will be higher than if you let your teen be a part of your plan.
Putting your child on your plan is the easiest way to get cheap auto insurance for teenagers, but there are some downsides you should consider. If your teen is a reckless driver, you could lose your good driver discount.
If you have not made any claims for years, you probably have a “no claim” discount. You’ll lose the discount if your teen has to make a claim. But even if you lose such discounts, you’ll probably still have a lower rate compared to a standalone plan in the long run.
How to Save Money on Car Insurance for Teens
Car insurance for teens can be quite expensive if you go with just any insurance provider or plan. Though it’s possible to find more affordable plans, always be prepared to pay more than you would for an experienced adult due to this group’s inevitable added risk.
However, following some of these tips, It’s still possible to find cheap car insurance for young people without breaking the bank. After your teen gets a plan, promote safe, defensive driving so they can have the best driving record possible, which can keep their rates lower.
Comparison Shop
When you shop for a car, home, or clothing, it’s not the best practice to pick the first item you see. Your instinct as a smart shopper is to compare what else is available to see if you’re getting the most for your money. The same principle goes for insurance shopping.
If you want to find cheap car insurance for teenage drivers, get ready to shop around. Annual rates vary by thousands of dollars for car insurance for teen drivers, so you need to compare quotes. Otherwise, you could spend two to three times more on coverage than necessary.
Also, it’s not just enough to look at the prices. A low quote can also mean scant coverage, which means that you won’t get the protection you need when it comes down to a real emergency.
Conversely, you can also get a high quote that offers not as much liability coverage as you need. Look at factors like coverage limits, out-of-pocket deductibles, and if there are any additional helpful aspects like roadside assistance included in the plan.
Overall, you want value with the cost, not just a low cost. This can often mean deciding on a price that is not the cheapest but has the best cost-per-value factor, saving you more money if an accident happens.
Take Advantage of Discounts
When you look for a plan, dig deep for all the discounts you can get. As a parent, make sure you’re reaping everything you can from factors like military service, good driving records, AAA memberships, and more. You can save a lot on car insurance if your child is a good student too.
Good student discounts are also available at the high school and college levels. Your child doesn’t have to be a straight-A student to get this discount. Usually, insurance companies offer a discount for students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Have a copy of your child’s most recent report card to have proof of their good performance, which will speed the process along.
There’s nothing like a little motivation to keep your kids getting good grades. When they reap the benefits of extra allowances or lower monthly contributions to the family car insurance bill, making the grade has even more rewards than just the pride of doing well.
When your child goes away to college, you can also get some discounts if they become a part-time driver. Many amenities are available on campus, especially for students in on-campus housing. This part-time status can give families a discount as high as 30% off the usual premium. However, most companies offer discounts in the 5-10% range.
Choose Vehicles that Are Affordable and Easy to Insure
Cars vary in insurance coverage costs due to their risk factors and cost to replace and repair. The general rule of thumb is to avoid expensive cars with a risky reputation. While your high school grad would love a turbocharged Ferrari as a gift, this vehicle would be incredibly expensive to insure. Instead, find a dependable used sedan or SUV that is known for affordable repairs.
When shopping for the best type of insurance for a teenage driver, you will notice that premiums fluctuate based on vehicle type. When a car doesn’t cost as much to repair or replace and isn’t known for high-speed races and accidents, then your insurance provider can provide an affordable quote.
Get a car with an excellent safety rating to lower the rates too. This means that it’s also best to avoid any junk cars or salvages. Most insurance companies can offer a liability policy for a salvage-title car, but it is often challenging to find a plan that includes collision and comprehensive coverage for this type of vehicle.
Since junk cars are more likely to break down and malfunction, they can cause accidents by stalling or not performing well. Also, it’s best to keep an inexperienced driver out of these types of vehicles so they can focus on driving instead of worrying about being stranded roadside.
Talk to a Licensed Insurance Agent
If you need a good place to start, talk to an expert. Independent insurance agents can compare quotes and insurance packages from a variety of leading providers, so you don’t have to spend hours filling in quote calculators on individual company websites (and enduring the barrage of phone calls from each one for weeks afterward).
By having one source to provide you multiple options, you can make a fully informed choice. Just like when a real estate agent shows you which properties give you the most reward for your money based on location, cost, and value, this quote comparison will give you the convenience of comparing all your insurance choices at once.
The transition into adulthood means new responsibilities. Driving is a significant milestone that aids young people in the process of becoming fully independent. Though parents can’t shield kids from everything, a good insurance plan can protect them from any potential hazards along the way.
Best Insurance for Teen Drivers
Freeway Insurance aspires to be your most trusted source of insurance solutions. By offering a wide variety of flexible and dependable insurance policies, our customers can be matched with the right plan that matches their needs and budget.
We can help you make the process fast and easy, don’t wait any longer. Start your quote online, over the phone, or visit one of our offices today.
Discover the best insurance for young drivers in your household today by calling one of our agents at (800)-777-5620. If you don’t have time to talk to an agent, our convenient online form can be filled out at any time of the day.
