Car Insurance for Teenage Drivers
It is an exciting time when teenagers get their first car and are ready to hit the roads. You want to know your loved ones are safe while learning how to drive. Insurance is mandatory for teenagers in almost every state but starting a standalone policy for a new driver is going to be expensive. Parents will save by adding their new driver to their current policy. Here are some reasons why many parents decide to add their young adult drivers to their existing policies.
- Control – Since your policy was already existing, you can add and update coverages to the right protection for your teen.
- Flexibility – If there are already multiple vehicles on your policy, you can insure your new driver to drive all of them.
- Convenience– You only need to worry about and manage a single policy
Teenage insurance can rack up a pretty penny that can cost parents thousands of dollars extra a year due to inexperience behind the wheel. There are several factors that will make the price of insurance for a teen fluctuate and be more expensive.
- Gender: Premiums are based solely off statistics, which does not help the case for young males. “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2013 the motor vehicle death rate for drivers and passengers ages 16 to 19 was almost twice as high for males vs. females” (Safeco). This statistic could possibly affect the cost for a teenage boy’s insurance.
- Primary Driver: If your teen has their own car, that may result in a higher premium. If a new driver doesn’t have to share a vehicle, that means they can get more time behind the wheel, which means a high price for insurance.
- Type of vehicle: Since teenagers are so inexperienced in driving, the more expensive of a car they drive, the higher the premium will be. A teenager driving a Honda Accord is going to have a cheaper premium than a teenager driving a Corvette.
Understanding what causes a young driver’s premium to fluctuate is key to finding the right carrier for your needs. Here are some of the many carriers that we look to when a youthful driver is being added to your policy.
Travelers
If you already have a homeowner’s policy with Travelers, it is a good idea to join them with auto insurance to help cover your new teenage driver. It costs an average of $595 per year to add a teenager to your auto policy, however the price will fluctuate depending on several factors
Like Progressive, good students are offered a discount. They also they offer a discount with Telematics. Telematics is a “Pay How You Drive” concept and is similar to Progressive’s offer with the Snapshot program. Here are five reasons you might want to have your teen try “Pay How You Drive” car insurance:
- The savings: Using a “Pay How You Drive” program offers the potential to save on your premium for safe driving habits.
- Benefits for good habits: Telematics is a monitoring device for your driving habits. By using telematics, it may help raise awareness of your current driving habits and help encourage you to drive safer. This type of encouragement is helpful with new drivers. It offers a way of coaching them to build safe and good habits.
- Easy sign up: Telematics is available for sign up through your mobile device. Most programs like Telematics only require a short sign-up process.
- It is a voluntary program: Even though many insurance companies encourage using a program like telematics, you can cancel at any time.
- The overall impact: If every new driver had the opportunity to be hyperaware of their driving decisions, the roads would be safer for all drivers.
Safeco
Safeco offers similar options for teenage drivers as Progressive and Travelers. Safeco typically costs an average of $859 a year, however the price will fluctuate depending on several factors. Be sure to ask about potential discounts for your teen driver. Safeco overs four ways to potentially save money for your teens.
- Drivers Education: Safeco may offer a discount if your teen driver attends a driver’s education course
- Good Student: Like our above carriers, Safeco may offer a discount for a student with a B average or above. They ask for yearly report cards, but this credit may save you up to 20%.
- Electronic monitoring: Safeco also offers an electronic monitoring device that allows young teens to receive a discount for good driving habits.
- Away at school without a car: If your young teen is attending a boarding school or college more than 100 miles away and didn’t bring a car, they may be eligible for a discount.
Progressive
Progressive has proven to our agents that they are one of the best carriers for young drivers. It costs about $1,231 per year to add a teenager to Progressive car insurance, however the price will fluctuate depending on several factors. At Progressive, whatever current policy you have will also apply to your teenager. Your young driver’s rates will also drop by an average of 8% when they turn 19 and another 7% at 21.
Progressive offers a variety of discounts for teen drivers, including:
Good student: B average or better? Your young driver can earn about a 10% off.
Multi-car: If your teenager has their own vehicle, they’ll chip in another discount just for having more than one vehicle on your policy.
Teen driver: If a driver on your policy is 18 years old or younger and you have been consistently insured for at least 12 months, they’ll add a discount.
Snapshot®: Their Snapshot® program rewards good drivers based on how they drive Disclaimer Plus, their mobile app can reveal if your teen was driving distracted.
Progressive is reliable and affordable. Get in contact with one of our agents to speak about adding your teenager to your Progressive policy today.
Even though having a child old enough to drive is scary, we want to help make the process as effortless as possible. We have covered our top three insurance carriers for new teen drivers, but if you would like more information or would like to speak with an agent, please contact us at (972) 490-8800 or request a quote at https://www.coverica.com/.
