When it comes time for your teen to start driving, this is scary business for some parents. What is even scarier is walking into your insurance agent’s office to have them added to the insurance. It is hard to let your teen drive your vehicle in the first place, and then you walk in there to get them added to the insurance and find out that in most cases your insurance is going to double if not triple in cost. And the newer your vehicle, the higher the cost.
The following are some tips to try to help curb some of that heartbreaking, headache making cost. Remember that vehicle insurance is insurance for cars that have the tendency to have some serious problems in the future.
There are often times when I hear parents complain about the cost of insurance for the kids and then I ask what they are driving and it is a new vehicle like a 2007 or 2008. I just have to shake my head. There are a lot of late model cars that are just as safe as the new ones and not nearly as expensive to insure.
When I was in high school, on the rare occasion, I would know someone who got a new vehicle, but it was very rare. The insurance premiums were not nearly as expensive back then as they are now either.
Since you are paying for the insurance of the vehicle and more than likely paying for the vehicle as well as the maintenance, then you should be able to buy whatever vehicle you want for your budget and if your kid complains about it, there is always their feet and public transportation.
Another thing to check into are discounts. If you have an insurance agent that is worth their weight, they will be the one to educate you about these discounts for your teen driver. Typically, if your student has a B average or above, they will qualify for the good student discount. If your teen takes a driver’s education class or course, there is another discount you will receive for that, as well as promoting a safe driver. With both of these discounts, you will save a substantial amount on the premium.
Another trick is that typically, and this is a bit sneaky, but typically as long as your teen is on a permit instead of an actual drivers license, the insurance company will not charge for them as long as they are always driving with supervision. There are limitations to a permit depending on what state you live in, but generally speaking, as long as you do not mind supervising your teen while they drive, then you will save a ton of money as long as they can hang on to their permit. Once they get their drivers license, you have to let the insurance company know in case of an accident your teen may be involved in. If the insurance company is not notified, chances are they will deny any claims because of your failure to notify them.
Anyway you choose to look at this, covering a teen for driving insurance is not cheap, but with these tips, it can save you money.
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