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Getting Great Rates for your Teen Driver Posted: 29 Jun 2009 01:22 PM PDT Most parents aren't very excited about taking the "hit" for the increased expense of insuring a teen driver, but they are always ready to find opportunities that will help them save on their premium costs. We can provide you with information that will help save you money on auto insurance for teenagers. Before beginning the search for great rates, everyone should know that a teenaged driver will not pay the same rates as an experienced driver. When anyone – including teenagers – begins driving, they are placed in the category known as high risk drivers. While it's true that there are some responsible new drivers out there, the fact remains that they have no prior experience of driving on the road for a long period of time. As the driver continues to demonstrate safe driving, over time their cost of insurance will decrease. Their rates start high because the insurance company is quite sure they will make an error that will lead to a claim, and statistically, they are correct. Most new drivers aren't always aware of their surroundings or they don't know how to maneuver the vehicle in a manner to avoid a collision. Sometimes they don't see a stop sign or they think they can make the yellow light. When an insurer sees these statistics, they prevent their own losses by instantly charging those new drivers a very high premium to offset the possible claim that will need to be paid out. Sure, it may not be fair that you are required to pay such a high price even though you are positive that your kid won't be involved in any traffic incident, but that's how life goes. Instead of throwing your own tantrum, find ways that you can get cheaper insurance rates for teens by reading on. Limit Vehicle Usage When you've applied for car insurance in the past, have you noticed you tell the insurer how many miles you drive each year? Insurers use this number as an estimation to predict how often the car is on the road, and the less often it's out there, the smaller the chance of it being involved in an accident. Drivers who drive less will pay less for their insurance. Set home rules about the mileage, when they can drive, and where they can drive. Giving the teen a weekly mileage limit may help them budget their use of the car better and eliminate unnecessary time behind the wheel. Some parents may find it useful to only allow a teen driver to drive the car from sun up to sun down. Night driving is more dangerous anyway, and it will give the new driver time to gain experience before they are allowed to drive at night. Combining these rules may also help the driver limit where they go, too. Traveling to work and school are necessary, but perhaps the weekend drive into the city isn't necessary and poses a threat to their fresh driving record. Keep an Unspotted Record Explain over and over again that this is the time to learn of the importance of avoiding traffic violations. It is always detrimental to one's record to receive a ticket or be involved in an accident, but it is even more so when the driver is new and young. Policyholders will be shocked (and probably furious) when they see the drastic increase in the already high premium price if this occurs. As mentioned above, limiting the driver's usage of the car will help decrease the chance of a traffic incident, but it's also important to avoid these situations altogether. On average, tickets and accidents remain on driving histories for years. There is always a probation period after involvement of one of these where obtaining another incident will only make things worse. A ticket can usually be "erased" or not even placed on the record if the driver attends traffic school. If traffic school isn't attended or is not an option, points will be assigned to the driver's record according to the seriousness of the violation. It's better for the insurance premium to avoid these points since they as a whole show a lack in safe driving and will only negatively affect your relationship with your insurer. Be a Good Student Young drivers need to get good grades not only for future scholarships, but also so they can be eligible for a popular car insurance discount often referred to as the good student discount. Students can qualify for this discount when they show their most recent report card as earning a "B" average or better. Each insurer may have different grade point average requirements, so check with the individual carrier to do what's necessary to earn this discount. Also, the term "student" may either be applied to high school students or college students, or both depending on your insurer. Why would good grades give a discount? Interestingly enough, insurers have found that students who perform well in stressful situations, such as taking tests in school, also perform well on the road and demonstrate a better ability to drive safely while avoiding traffic incidents. Not all good students are good drivers, but as a collective group they are. Shop Around Another great way to find cheap car insurance for teens is by shopping around and comparing the rates each company provides. Assuming the current carrier is the best and cheapest isn't always the best route to take. In using our comparison tool, you can get a number of quotes from reputable insurers by filling out only one questionnaire. Compare your findings to your current insurer and see which one would benefit you more. It may be worth a few minutes of your time, especially as you add another driver to your policy. Getting great rates for your teen isn't complicated as long as you work with him/her to help them understand how important it is to be a safe and smart driver. Their safety and intelligence will be reflected in the cost of their insurance for years to come.

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