How much does your insurance go up after adding a teenager is a question we get all the time. If you’re a parent of a teenage driver then you know it’s expensive! We’re going to talk about how expensive it is and give some tips on how to lower your car insurance premium for young teenage drivers.
Table of Contents
How Much is Teenage Car Insurance?
Adding a teenager to your insurance policy can increase the price by 125% to 200% or $1800 to $2,600 a year. This is a lot of money! Let’s talk about why it costs so much and what you can do to help decrease the amount of car insurance you pay for your young teenage driver.
Everyone says the magic age is 21. 21 is the age where rates will start to drop. This is true in the fact that rates will start to get better at this age; However, you wont be completely out of the weeds until age 24 or 25. By this age, they are older and more mature and they also have many years of driving history so the insurance company can better know how risky they are and how likely they are to have an accident.
Start the process early, shop around.
How Much Does It Cost To Add a 16 Year Old To Car Insurance?
As mentioned above, it can cost a lot of money to add your 16 year old to your car insurance. However, there are few things you can do to make sure you’re not over paying.
Take advantage of the few discounts available to young drivers.
Good Student Discount– Generally a 3.0 or better GPA will qualify you for this discount. This can save you anywhere from 3% to 15%.
Driver Training– This discount is not available with as many insurance companies as it used to be. But it can still be a sizeable discount and it’s still a valuable course for your young driver to take.
Monitoring App/Device– Most every insurance company has the option to add a monitoring device. These devices monitor driving habits such as miles driven, speed, hard breaks, etc and give discounts depending on how the driver performs. Since a young driver does not have a driving history, this is the best way to quickly learn driving habits and adjust the insurance rate accordingly.
Older Car– Unless you are wanting to pay an insane amount for your teenagers car insurance, don’t go buy them a brand new car. An older car, that doesn’t need full coverage, will be the best priced car for your young driver.
Average Cost To Add Teenager To Car Insurance
The average cost to add a teenage driver to your auto insurance is $3,982 per year. This number assumes the following: Liability coverage of 100/300/100, comprehensive and collision (full coverage) with a $500 deductible and a 2018 Honda Accord.
It’s important to remember that this is the average. There are many factors that can influence the price you pay for your teenage driver’s car insurance. Age, gender, state, number of accidents and violation, vehicle they drive, etc.
How Much Is Car Insurance For a 17 Year Old?
While it’s true that car insurance for a 17 year old is very expensive, it’s not nearly as bad as a 16 year old with no driving experience! As you get older each year your car insurance premiums will continue to drop. It will still be expensive for the first few years, but as you get older and establish more of a driving record (hopefully a good one) your rates will start to go down. There is a difference in cost between male and female drivers. Let’s take a look.
How Much Is Car Insurance For a 17 Year Old Female?
Young female drivers will cost less to insure than 17 year old male’s. Most every type of insurance sets their rates based off of data. If a certain risk is higher, then the rates will be higher. If a certain risk is not as great, then the rates for that insurance policy will be less. When it comes to 17 year old females, the data shows that they are better drivers than 17 year old males. Females tend to get in less accidents and tend to get less tickets. Because of this it costs less to insure a 17 year old female.
How Much Is Insurance For a 17 Year Old Male?
Male drivers, especially young male drivers, tend to have higher rates for car insurance. This is simply because 17 year old males tend to have more accidents and are riskier drivers. Insurance companies know they will most likely end up paying out money for the accident the 17 year old male is going to have, so they charge higher rates.
How Much Is Insurance For a 16 Year Old State Farm?
State Farm is a captive company. This means they have one rate to offer and that is it. They can sometimes have good rates for 16 year olds, but they can also sometimes have bad rates for car insurance. The way to combat this problem is by using an independent broker. Someone who can look at dozens of different companies and find the best rate for your 16 year old. Don’t rely on just one company, make sure you shop to find the best rate. No one wants to pay more money on car insurance for their teenager than they have to!
Do I Have To Add My Teenager To My Insurance?
Yes, you must add all drivers of your vehicles to your car insurance policy. There is a bad rumor out there where a lot of agents are stating that you don’t need to add young drivers to your car insurance policy. These agents state that the young drivers are covered under the “Permissive Use” clause in the insurance contract. This is completely false and these agents are setting up these people to have a horrible claim experience where things are covered. Permissive use is for those people that would drive your vehicle that do NOT live in your house and do not drive your vehicle on a regular basis. If someone lives in your house or drives your car on a regular basis (at least once a month) then they need to be added to your policy as a driver. In many cases, if a teenage driver crashes your vehicle and they are not listed on your policy as a driver then there would not be coverage!
Should My Teenager Get Their Own Insurance Policy?
No, your teenage driver should not get their own insurance. They should be insured under your policy. This is the case so long as they are living in your house and driving your car. Not only is it more cost efficient to add your teenager to your car insurance but it also ensures you have the correct coverage. Getting your teenager their own car insurance policy while they are living in your house creates all kinds of coverage issues that may affect you at the time of a claim.
Compare Quotes With an Independent Agent
Every insurance company is different. Some companies want certain types of policies but don’t want other types of policies. So some insurance companies will have really good pricing for teen drivers, because they want that type of business whereas other car insurance companies will have really high rates on teenage drivers because that type of policy is not what they want. So until you shop around and check with many different companies, you can’t be sure you’re getting the best rates. To check rates with an independent agent, click here.