Top 8 Tips To Reduce Car Insurance Premiums for Teens

For those with teenagers, and especially teenage sons, who are about to start driving, be prepared for a huge increase in your auto insurance premiums. Young drivers are considered high risk and as such, premiums are set accordingly. However, there are some tips that you can put in practice to help minimize the increase as much as possible.

1. Raise deductibles for collision and comprehensive coverage to $1000 or more. This will lower your premium while ensuring that you do not make small insurance claims that could further damage your premium in the future. Just be sure to have at least the amount of the deductible set aside in case you need to pay for damages incurred in an accident.

2. Remove collision and comprehensive coverage from cars that are paid off and have a low book value. By using the Kelley Blue Book website, you can find out what your car is worth. If there is little difference between the value and the deductible, you should definitely drop the coverage.

3. Invest in a car with a good safety rating. This will keep premiums as low as possible and give you peace of mind. Safety ratings for vehicles can be found at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

4. Remind your kids of the extra importance of good grades. A majority of insurance companies offer good student discounts to those young drivers with a B average or better in school. If students attend college, they must be taking no less than 12 credits to get the discount.

5. Let your insurer know if your child is away at college. Students who attend school more than 100 miles from their parents’ home and do not take a car to school will earn their parents a big break on insurance.

6. Request all available discounts. Have a discussion with your insurance agent about the type of discounts offered to teenage drivers. There may be some available that are easy to qualify for or that your child already meets the requirements for.

7. Maximize other discounts. If you can get a multi-line discount for putting car, home, life or other types of insurance with the same company, do so. This will help your bottom line.

8. Compare price quotes. It is important to shop around and compare prices from a variety of insurers. Some companies offer very good rates for teenagers while others offer very high rates. When it is time to add your child to your auto insurance, it may be time to change companies.

Be sure that you understand the risks of changing insurers. If you have been with the same company for a long period of time, you may not want to switch to another company, especially if the price difference is not that great. A longtime insurer is more likely to extend accident forgiveness to you if your child has a car accident than a new insurer. In addition, you may lose discounts on other types of insurance if you change your auto insurance to another company.

Be sure to weigh the pros and cons of which company to go with when you need to add your teenager to your auto insurance. The most important thing to remember is that now is definitely not the time to cut your coverage. Drivers under the age of 25 have higher rates for a reason. They are more likely to be involved in serious accidents. Being underinsured could have a huge financial impact on your family if your child is at fault in an accident.

Top 8 Tips To Reduce Car Insurance Premiums for Teens

Comments (0)