I’m a new driver (I’m only 17 y/o) and they told me that my car insurance here in Minnesota is going to be expensive. Why is it so and how can I make it lower?

Gerald

Brooklyn Park, MN

There are a number of reasons why teen car insurance is more expensive than car insurance for other age bracket. The first on the list is that these young drivers don’t have much experience in driving yet, which makes them higher risk to car insurance companies. One other reason is the age itself as car insurance premiums for teens are expected to be rather high. Typically, car insurance premiums are higher for young male drivers than the females, since men are perceived as higher risk to car insurance companies.

When teens start driving, they experience freedom that they always wanted and it’s also the start of their responsibility. Most parents encourage their teens to be confident while driving to avoid any anxiety and prevent any traffic mishaps. Any kind of traffic mishaps can result in having a ridiculous increase on their car insurance. As a young driver, if you are going to have your own car, make sure that you choose a less expensive car since it is more likely to have lower car insurance premiums.

Most importantly, you have to know that you need to keep a good driving record so as not to pay expensive car insurance premiums. Being a safe driver not only keep you away from trouble but also manage to keep your car insurance premiums in Minnesota low.

I’m just a teenager and I plan to just be under my Mom’s car insurance policy here in Arizona. Do I need to be living in the same house as they do to be able to do that?

Kobe

Phoenix, AZ

Some age groups are favoured when it comes to car insurance premiums in the same way that other age groups are not. No matter which age group you belong to, you can still be able to get some discounts for your car insurance policy. It would be to your advantage as a driver if you are a part of a low risk category. However, as a teenager, you are otherwise classified as a high risk driver by car insurance companies for certain reasons. For one thing, you don’t have enough experience to boast to be able to be considered a good driver to deserve much lower car insurance rates. Another reason is that teenagers are more likely to be reckless when they drive.

One way to save on your teen car insurance is to be under your parent’s car insurance policy. And to answer your question, yes, you have to live in the same house as your parents do to be able to be under your Mom’s policy in Arizona. The car that you will be using should also be under their name to have this option for your teen car insurance. If you already have your own car and don’t live with your parents, you still have other options to be able to save on your car insurance. The best route that you can take is to obtain as many teen car insurance quotes from different car insurance companies as possible. Once you have collected enough quotes, you have to compare them and choose among them the most affordable quote that suits your needs.

I know that I may have problems paying for my teenage son’s car insurance here in Illinois because it is quite expensive. How can I make it lower and could you also explain how a car insurance broker can help?

Shenna

Naperville, IL

Teenagers are usually charged with high car insurance rates by most car insurance companies. However they can still get lower car insurance rates as long as they shop hard enough for cheap teen car insurance. Enrolling in a defensive driving school and presenting good grades can also assure a teenager a low car insurance premium. They are also encouraged to browse the Internet to get the best free teen car insurance quote. Consulting a car insurance broker may also help them in gaining the most affordable teen car insurance.

Teenagers have not been popular among many car insurance companies. These firms think that teenagers are high risk given their lack of driving experience. Most teens can be very irresponsible while driving, leading them to commit mistakes that cause certain traffic violations. This is the main reason why car insurance companies charge high car insurance rates to teenagers.

Young drivers in Illinois can get the best teen car insurance available in the market by going online. As its name suggest, a free car insurance quote is a no-obligation insurance quote. Many of the top car insurance companies have their own websites to allow easier access for their potential clients. Young drivers should learn to request and compare multiple car insurance quotes to get the best free teen car insurance quote.

Calling up an experienced car insurance broker is another good way of getting the best teen car insurance. Car insurance brokers can provide the cheapest teen car insurance quotes according to the budget and requirements of your young driver.

I know that car insurance for young people is costly because I have already experienced that with my son who now has his own car insurance. I’m back in worrying about having to pay more again for my coverage here in Louisiana. My 16-year old daughter is starting to learn how to drive, how can I get cheap car insurance for her?

Leslie

Lafayette, LA

Though parents understand the needs of their children for driving, a lot of them, like you do, are going through tough times in paying higher premiums for car insurance for young people. I’m sure you are aware that car insurance for young people under the age of 25 generally has the highest premiums. The reason behind this is that young drivers are likely to file more claims because of their lack of experience in driving.

To get cheap car insurance for young people in Louisiana, you need to look for some applicable discounts. If your daughter has good grades, she may be rewarded for a good student discount. Car insurance companies think that if they can be responsible in keeping good grades in school, they can be counted as well that they will be responsible drivers. Aside from that, it would be of big help if your daughter has attended and finished a defensive driving course. Most car insurance companies also offer discounts for those who have completed a driver safety course.

If your daughter drives a safe vehicle, she may have lower premiums for car insurance for young people. Make sure that the vehicle that she uses has safety equipment installed because this would be another way of getting a discount. Examples of safety equipment you can install are air bags, anti-lock brakes, alarms and anti-theft devices.

Tags: car insurance, car insurance companies, car insurance discounts, car insurance for young drivers

Why is insurance for young drivers too expensive? My daughter is applying for one and all the insurance quotes she’s getting reveals too high rates for her taste. Thanks

Marjorie

Omaha, NE

Insurance for young drivers has traditionally been more expensive compared to those of elder drivers. Insurance companies have been strict when it comes to rating insurance for teenage drivers since young drivers are more prone to committing mistakes on the road that can result to car accidents, injuries and damages.

Another reason why insurance for young drivers is expensive is because young drivers do not have a lengthy driving record to speak of. This is a result, of course, of the short time they have as drivers. But since automobile insurance companies put premium on the driving tendencies and skills of their policy holders, young drivers are at the raw end of the deal, and thus have to pay more for their vehicle insurance.

Yet another factor which contributes to higher insurance rates for young drivers is the fact that they usually drive unsafe vehicles like sports cars. It is not surprising that car insurance companies charge highly on their insurance coverage since sports cars are known to be involved in a lot of road accidents.

My sister and I have put up a travel agency here in California. I sometimes use my car to drive around clients. If I get into an accident with my clients onboard, will my car insurance pay for the damages?

Shelly

San Diego, CA

Since you are obviously using your car to transport passengers that pay you with a certain fee, then your car is considered to be used for business purposes. Whether this transporting of clients is done occasionally or on a daily basis, your car can be under the category of livery use. It means that the car is used to transport or carry passengers in exchange for a fee. It can also mean using the car to deliver packages like pizza or newspapers in exchange for a payment or tip. This type of vehicle use is definitely excluded from your personal passenger car insurance policy. In your case, you will have to purchase a commercial car insurance policy. Although it may cost more than your regular car insurance coverage, it will be a very sound business investment. You would not want to end up in a road accident with injured clients and no financial assistance for necessary medical care, would you?

Talk to a local car insurance agent in California about this matter. You can also check the websites of car insurance companies licensed to do business in California and do some comparison shopping. This way you know all your options and have a higher chance of getting competitive rates.

Car insurance companies are taking monitoring your teens driving to new heights with all of the different programs to allow parents to control their teen auto insurance rate by making sure that said teen is driving responsibly. This is one of the newer ones, called Teensurance, which is even more in depth and up to date then the DriveCam that I talked about in another post. Here’s a breakdown of the provisions of Teensurance, which is from Safeco Insurance.

• Roadside assistance.

While roadside assistance is great for anybody, teen’s could use it even more than most because they are more prone to not thinking ahead. Teensurance provides them with up to three gallons of gas if they run out on the road, it charges their battery if it goes dead (and teens often do things like leave the lights on for hours), it replaces tires, and it can open a car when the keys are locked inside, among other things.

• TeenDASH.

This is like a test given to your teen that will determine how they would react in certain driving situations and provide you with ways to get them to do the right thing. The better they can score on this test, the better their teen auto insurance rate will be. You can also compare your own teen to others nationwide by doing this.

• Help for parents.

Teen surance is involved with both the teen and the parent. It provides parents with materials to help them lower their teen auto insurance rate, and shows them how things such as tickets cause the teen auto insurance rate to rise.

• Safety Beacon.

This is perhaps the most innovative aspect of the Teensurance teen auto insurance rate plan. It provides real time updates for parents on a portable device, so they can communicate with their teen and monitor their movements through the GPS system.

While some parents might see the teen auto insurance rate policy as a little authoritarian, you should think about safety first. I know that as a teen I would have hated it, but this type of monitoring saves lives.

I know my teenager drives well, but he doesn’t pay as much attention as necessary at times and I’m worried that he could get into an accident and hurt himself or cause our car insurance rates to go up. Is there anything that I can do about this? He’s a good kid, so I don’t want to take away his privileges.

Mary Anne

Great question, Mary Anne.

I completely understand your situation, and I also get that you don’t want to punish your son for practicing the common teenage gift of absent mindedness. However, you have to remember that while he’s being the wheel, his lack of attention could end up in at the best higher teen driver car insurance rates, and at the worst a serious car accident. The first thing that I would do would be to sit down and talk to him about paying more attention on the road.

After that, whether he starts to pay more attention or not, I would enroll him in a defensive driving course. Most teen driver car insurance companies will give you a discount for taking a defensive driving course, and they are often good for the whole family so that rates for everyone can be lowered.

Defensive driving can be helpful in supplementing the knowledge that your son learned in his driver’s education courses. It goes beyond simply knowing the laws of the road and teaches teenagers and their parents about one of the most important concepts for owners of a teen driver car insurance policy–accident avoidance.

There are several types of classes that you can take, and usually you can call your teen driver car insurance company and ask them which ones will be acceptable to count towards the discount. One of my favorites, though, that I have heard of is Xtreme Measures, which is taught by David Reutimann, a driver for NASCAR. This defensive driving class is accepted by many teen driver car insurance companies, and besides that, it travels! It was in California recently, and a bunch of teenagers took the two day course that involved intense lessons and fun obstacle courses. Here is a bit of advice from the course for driving while it’s raining:

• If you notice that the weather is starting to turn foul, double check your windshield wipers. You do NOT want to get caught out in the rain without wipers. Believe me, one time the motor on my wipers broke, and I was an hour away from home. I bought something that you can spray on your window which will make the rain just slide off to the side, and it’s great. You can ask for it at your local auto parts shop and they’ll know what you mean. I would keep it on hand for emergencies.
• Keep your windshield clean. Get the dirt, bugs, and bird poop off before you go driving. It helps you to see better.
• If it’s raining hard, go slow enough so that you can squint your eyes and drive according to how far ahead you can see.
• If the rain is pouring too hard, get off the road and find somewhere to hang out until it dies down.

The suggestions and real life practices are fantastic, and can help your teen drive more safely and also lower your teen driver car insurance rates.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

If you’re interested in teen driver safety for your son or daughter, then you should avoid buying them an SUV, or allowing them to buy one for themselves with their own money, until they are out of your house. The video above details the inherent danger of sports utility vehicles when they are under the control of teenagers, and the gap between the safety of an SUV and that of a regular car is growing all the time.

Last year, in relation to deaths from car accidents, eleven percent more deaths resulted from crashes involving SUVs than those that didn’t. At the same time, SUV’s have been selling far more vehicles, so we will only see those statistics rise, taking a big toll on teen driver safety.

While many of the newer sports utility vehicle models have roll over protection on them, this doesn’t always work, and when they don’t have it, rolling over is a very dangerous possibility. It is one of the things that makes the SUV most dangerous for the driver and passengers, and when teen driver safety is compromised by both the vehicle and by the fact that teenagers are more likely to take risky actions that would cause a roll over, you have something to worry about.

Another reason that SUVs are dangerous is that they have bumpers that are higher than those of other cars. These bumpers come to the level of the driver and passengers of a smaller car, and are thus more likely to cause injuries and fatalities, instead of doing what their supposed to do, which is hit the body of the car or the other car’s bumper and absorb the impact.

Not only do SUVs compromise teen driver safety, but they come at a heavy price. Most car insurance companies charge more for SUVs than they do for other cars, although if you have safety features installed, you might be able to get a discount.

If you’re a teen and new driver, then you can’t simply take your car out on the road and guess how to drive. If you want to get good teen and new driver car insurance rates, and also drive safely and within the law, then you need to have a driver’s education program. Most schools offer one, and the schools in this video offer a different, more effective type of driver’s education–one designed by teens.

Most car insurance companies will apply a ten percent discount or more to your insurance if the teen takes a driver’s education program, even if it is taken outside of school.

There are several places on and off line where a teen and new driver can get their drivers education, and there are even games to help the teen learn the rules of the road better.