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So your kid has reached the legal driving age, and you intend to buy them their first car. But then you remember the high cost of auto insurance for teen drivers, and it gives you second thoughts.
But the good news is that there are a few tricks that can help you lower the cost. Below are five things all parents should know about insurance before getting their first car for their teen drivers.
- Safety Features and Upgrades May Lead to Lower Premiums
One of the biggest challenges for teen drivers is distracted driving. A few years back, distraction could have meant setting your hair, applying make-up, flipping radio channels, calling, or chatting with friends in your teenage years.
Today it’s all that plus high-tech communication gadgets. Thankfully, modern vehicles have advanced crash avoidance systems such as lane assist, blind-spot assist, and forward collision avoidance.
In most cases, insurance companies consider a vehicle’s safety features when calculating premiums. In other words, you may enjoy lower premiums for their auto cover if your teen’s vehicle has advanced safety features.
You can also read this post on interesting auto insurance facts to learn more ways you could explore to lower your teen’s insurance premiums.
- Buy a Multi-Car Insurance Cover
Most insurance companies allow members of the same household to get auto cover under a single multi-car insurance cover. The most significant advantage of having household cars insured under a single plan is getting a discount.
While including a teen’s cover will significantly increase premiums, you get a better deal than buying an independent cover for them. You do not have to live under the same roof as them to add them to your household cover. The only requirement is that the other person is an immediate family member. Here is an auto insurance winnipeg for more information.
- A Defensive Driving Course Can Help Lower Premiums
The driver training course is enough to earn your teen their driving license, but it can’t offer guarantees that they will do it safely. Taking a defensive driving course can help them be less likely to cause an accident.
Some insurance companies offer defensive driving classes, with candidates who successfully finish the course enjoying discounts of up to 20%.
Safer driving will serve you well too. Being safe and careful on the road and not getting into risky situations for no good reason is always for the best. These safe driving tips will help you with that.
- Good Grades
If you have a high-performing teen, maintaining high grades can be a plus when getting auto insurance for them. Insurance companies offer low rates for top performance ins to incentivize teens to do well in school.
High performers are also more likely to make better decisions while on the road and are thus deemed less risky than their average counterparts. So encouraging them to keep their grades up can be a good idea. But every child is able to do things differently, so you may not need to pressure your child if they can’t make high grades.
- Maintain a Clean Driving Record
While your teen driver’s insurance policies may start at a higher rate than yours, how long they stay at a high premium may depend on their driving record. If they can maintain an accident-free record, it is possible to have their rates fall with time.
You may need to talk with them about their driving habits and how it affects their insurance cost. Also, it would help to agree with them about safe driving hours and have them never at night unless it is inevitable.
Final Words
Every teen dreams of the day they will get behind the wheel and drive off with no supervision. Luckily for most of them, they do not have to worry about the costs that come with it. But for you as a parent, it is a different story. But the tips highlighted in this post can make it much easier for you.
