How a Teen Affects your Insurance Costs

Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid the steep price spike that accompanies adding a teen driver to your policy. Because of their inexperience, teenagers have a much greater chance of being involved in an accident than do other, more experienced drivers. For that reason, the cost to insure a teenage driver is significantly higher. In reality, adding a teenager could mean a premium increase of anywhere from 50 to 100 percent. However, there are some actions you and your teen can take to offset that price increase.

Good Grades Help Save

Students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher qualify for a Good Student Discount.

Teens with their Own Cars Pay More

A teen's accessibility to a vehicle also impacts price, so you may want to weigh those options when deciding to provide a car for your teen's use.

• If your teen has a vehicle available for his use at all times, the premium will be much higher than if he sometimes gets to drive your car.
• When it's time for college, if your teen goes more than 100 miles away to school and doesn't take a car, your premium will decrease.

Cost-Saving Measures

Make sure you are taking advantage of all other cost-saving options available, not just those that apply to teen drivers:

• Choose higher deductibles: You can effectively cut your insurance costs by choosing the highest deductibles you can afford.
• Set up EFT payments: You can avoid extra charges by selecting billing options that don't include service fees (like electronic funds transfer)
• Get a package policy: Packaging your home and auto insurance on a single policy provides additional discounts on your premium.

More tips to help you save!