by Images_of_Money under CC BY

Car Insurance = Expensive

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We ended up purchasing him a used 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. It’s a clean, single cab pickup so he won’t be able to haul all of his friends around. Hopefully that’ll leave for a little less distractions while driving around town. He don’t know it just yet, but when he does finally turn 16 years old, he’ll be getting a vehicle (well, he kind of knows he’s getting a car, just not what). We decided on used because it just really isn’t realistic to get a first time driver a brand spanking new car, especially since I don’t have one either. Trust me, would have loved getting him a new car as most any parent would want to for their child but just didn’t feel like we’d be able to help him along the way with both a new car payment and a new insurance payment at the same time. Used isn’t bad though, it looks good, it runs good, and it has a cold air conditioner which works out really well for the climate we live in.

Now to fast-forward a bit, I stopped by today just to get a quick quote as to what our insurance policy was going to do if we simply added him to it. Just adding the truck to it with basic liability (certainly not full-coverage) and being under my name brought it out to being an additional $34 bucks a month. Not bad, I thought.

But then came the fun stuff. Let’s see what happens if we add him as the driver and keep the same level of basic coverage. A little to my surprise (well actually shock) was that adding him in with no discounts came out to more than what it costs to insure both my vehicle and my wife’s vehicle (mine at liability and hers at full-coverage). It was going to be an additional $146 a month to do this. Are you kidding me!!

Ok, well let’s say he qualifies and takes part in State Farm’s Steer Clear Drivers Program. This should definitely knock it down quite a bit since he’d be promising and following all the guidelines in the program and filling out all the documentation. Well, it helped, but not quite what I was expecting. The quoted price was still sitting at around $130 a month, still little less than thrilled.

So, we checked out one final discount, the good grades discount I’ll call it. Don’t remember what my agent called it so we’ll just go with that. Basically, she said that if he keeps his grades up (a “B” average or better), that he’d qualify for this discount. Needless to say, was still less than thrilled with the final outcome. Being in all AP classes, this could be tough for him. Not that he couldn’t do it because he certainly can, just with what’s been produced up to this point, it might be something that he’d struggle with from time to time depending on what activities he’s in and what they are teaching at the time. Yep, he comes home with C’s every once in a while, he tries hard though so we just encourage him and let him know that we expect better.

About the best deal we could come up with was actually combining the discounts listed above, so he’d have to take part in both the Steer Clear Program and the Good Grades Discount. Combining the two discounts brought the quoted price down to just over $100 a month more. Add that to what we already pay for insurance every month and I’m not really liking where we stand right now.

Think it might just be about time again to start hitting the trails and shopping for insurance to see what other companies are offering. Have you gone through this already? What’s your experience been getting insurance for your first time teenage driver? Let me know in the comments below.

I was doing some more research this weekend on getting car insurance for teenagers since mine is gonna be there soon and I ran across an interesting article out there from Tampa Bays 10. I know that my son will be getting a permit before long so I’ve got to be informed as much as possible to save where I can as I know it’s gonna be expensive due to where we live. Plus with the rising costs of everything these days we gotta be smart as consumers.

I don’t want to do anything that is going to dampen his spirits in getting his learner’s permit as it’s such an exciting time and right of passage in a teens life. I like to consider myself the “Hank Hill” to the neighborhood and he’s my “Bobby”. But this story really shocked me and is something that I’m going to be definitely following up on with my insurance company when getting car insurance for my teenager. Seems that another parent was surprised to find out that their insurance company just added their teenager to their policy simply because she turned 16, big surprise is she won’t even get her license to drive until next year. This is going to add $1,100 to their policy for just six months coverage.

Seems that insurance companies can just add car insurance for teenagers on policies whenever they see fit. Why? Well, seems that there is no statute set forth by our governing bodies regulating insurance companies as to when they can add a teen driver to a family policy. What does that mean. Simple, they can do it when they want to basically, not when you are ready.

The story then goes on to say that it simply depends on the insurance company. They viewed some of the largest carriers and found that they really have different views on the matter. Allstate will add your teen on your policy for car insurance when they get their learners permit. Progressive will add them in when they turn 16. Nationwide will also add your teen for teen car insurance when they get their permit. State Farm looks to be the most logical as they won’t add them in until they actually get their license, when one would need car insurance for a teenager, according to the report.

This is definitely a new development for me and something that I’m going to check out with my insurance carrier, I’d suggest that you do the same with yours so you don’t get any friendly “surprises” in the mail about your insurance policy and your teenager especially if you live in Florida and are looking for the best Florida car insurance rates since that is where this story originated.

When you get that first ride, probably the furthest thing from your mind is car insurance for teenagers. All you can think about is how it looks. The slick paint job and fabulous rims. The flawless interior and how smooth or comfortable it feels when you sit behind the wheel. That sweet sound blasting out of those 15″ sub-woofers in the back and the melodious ear wringing coming from the matching six by nines in the front. Not to mention just how good you look behind the wheel and how all the heads will turn when you go cruising down the street. Good thing you haven’t bought it yet cause that ride could cost you some serious bling when getting car insurance. So let’s go over a few things to keep in mind when looking for that perfect car.

First, new cars are much more expensive in general to insure than old(er) cars when acquiring car insurance for teenagers and for good reason. But as a general rule of thumb, typically the flashier or newer the vehicle, the more expensive it is going to be to insure than an older vehicle. Newer cars tend to come with price tags and not the kind that your thinking about. Thieves target newer cars. Higher priced luxury cars are huge targets. If you’re a parent, why not think of upgrading your car instead of living vicariously through little Johnny or Susie because that’s what you always wanted. Your insurance on this vehicle won’t be nearly what it would be if you were getting car insurance for teenagers on it.

If you do get a newer car, make sure it has some type of anti-theft device for your own protection. You could eventually lower your teenagers car insurance rates by detering that type of activity and some insurance companies even give you a little bit of a discount for your vehicle having it. Devices like vehicle alarms, wheel locks and engine immobilizers are all considered anti-theft devices. Not only that, cut-out all that mess totally by parking your car in a safe place, like your garage, when it’s not in use. Cars stored in this manner are less likely to be stolen or damaged. How does this help? Simple, you cut-out the risk of theft and damage claims when the car is not in use. Now it doesn’t help really until you have some history but after that history is compiled it could help in reducing your car insurance for teenagers annual premiums.

Should one of these newer types of vehicles be on your short list for purchase, you are going to want to consider full coverage car insurance for teenagers. Still not that bad as you do have a few options. One option to point out in particular in an effort to alleviate some pressure from high cost insurance is to choose a higher deductible. With full coverage you will have to choose a deductible. There’s no getting around it. A deductible is simply the amount you have to pay out of pocket should your teenager get in an accident (which statistics say will likely happen). Deductibles are easy though. The higher the deductible the lower the cost of car insurance for teenagers. Do take note though that full coverage is normally about twice as expensive as just teenager liability insurance.

In future articles here at New Car Insurance for Teenagers we will delve further into the aspects of vehicles and vehicle ratings and what insurance companies deem safer vehicles than others which will help drive down the cost of car insurance. As always, if you have any questions or looking for some specific information, please feel free to leave us a comment or send us a mail or click around the site for more information.

by janebelindasmith under CC BY

Car Insurance for Teenagers – Not Just a Dream

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Age and driving experience is a major determining factor in what your rate will be when obtaining teenage car insurance. Typically the younger you are, the more your insurance rate is going to be. So for all you brand new drivers out there just getting your license, you will definitely have the highest rates on the planet. Simple, it’s been proven that teenagers have more crashes and accidents than other drivers on the road. The same is true for driving experience. If you are older but have recently acquired your license you will experience the same effects when getting insurance.

Don’t let that stop you though, pit those insurance companies against one another. They all offer car insurance for teenagers, see which ones have the better rates. Shop around, they can’t be the only one in your town. If they are, use what got you here in the first place, the internet. There are hundreds of online insurance companies and believe it or not they want your money just as bad as you want car insurance for your teenager. Click around, get a quote, tell them your history and the lowest price you’ve been quoted so far but be honest. You want the best deal but you have to give good information at the same time.

Just keep in mind what you are after and what you can afford. Remember, while getting car insurance for teenagers your main goal is to get coverage and be protected. Are you looking for full coverage or will just liability coverage be sufficient. That could depend a lot on what type of vehicle you’ve acquired in the process. The only way to really start weighing your options is by getting quotes. Quotes are not legal contracts so you won’t be held liable by getting an insurance company quote for car insurance rates for teenagers.

I’m getting really worried, both mentally and financially the more I research car insurance for teenagers. As you may know if you read my about page, one of the reasons for starting this site was to not only educate myself on this but also provide information for you the reader as well in my quest for finding the optimal car insurance for my teenager. I spoke with my current insurance agent today and had a little bit of a bomb dropped on me. My first child getting close to driving years is male. What I found out today was males are more expensive than females when getting insurance for a young driver.

by jo-h under CC BY

Car Insurance Rates For Teenagers

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The insurance agent told me it’s been documented that boys are risk takers for the most part and are deemed “risky” to insure. Well that sparked my interest so onward with the research. What I found was interesting but I guess makes sense. Car insurance for teenagers who are male is more expensive than that for female teenagers quite simply because they are more “risky” and “accident prone” and have a history to prove it. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety actual said that “about 2 out of every 3 teenagers killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2006 were males” in their fatality report for 2006. Although, in recent years, the females were certainly closing the gap.

Well, I’m man enough to admit that she was right. Car insurance for teenagers for males should be more expensive than that for females based on that and quite a lot of other numbers that backed it up from that report. You always hear talk about female drivers but these teenage boys seem to have them beat hands down. In fact, one of the highest car insurance rates there is around is that of males ages 16 to 25. But lets face it, car insurance for teenagers is just plain expensive whether you are male or female because of their accident records. The National Safety Council in 2003 came out with this wonderful statistic that teenagers made up 4.8% of all drivers, but accounted for 17.0% of drivers in fatal car crashes, and 22.1% of all drivers in all types of crashes.

I guess I might just have to face it, car insurance for teenagers is going to be more expensive than I thought it might be. In fact, the rate she quoted me today (and I’ve been with this company for quite some time) could possibly double or even triple my current rate upon adding him to the family insurance policy. There were some discounts but I’ll save them for later. As always, please let us know if you have any questions about Car Insurance for Teenagers and we will assist you as best we can or search until we can find the answers. I was able to land a couple of interviews from some different agents that will be coming up in a short while here on the site for more information.

by scui3asteveo under CC BY

Recent Study on Car Insurance for Teenagers

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A recent study just released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that teenage drivers are being more careful while driving their automobile. However, just because their crash rates have dropped doesn’t necessarily mean that car insurance for teenagersrates will drop anytime soon. Even though they did drop, the teenage crash rate is still remains much higher than adult crash rates. Since states began utilizing a graduated licensing approach, these fatal crash rates fell 26 percent from 1993 to 2003 for 16 year old teenage drivers. In fact, here’s what the latest numbers show sor both fatal and police reported crashes per population between 1996 and 2005:

• down 40 percent for 16 year-olds
• down 25 percent for 17 year-olds
• down 15-19 percent for 18 year-olds

Eventhough the numbers show a fairly sharp decrease in teenage car accidents, it does still determine that teenage drivers pose the greatest risk not only to other people on the road, but to themselves as well. Because of this, car insurance for teenagers is not cheap. Yes you can find some deals and discounts and it’s our plan to highlight some of those here, but more importantly to help you actually plan for your teenager and their upcoming driving years.

A big chunk of change in a policy on car insurance for teenagers deals with what that person my be driving. Some auto’s are rated a lot safer than others and will be more affordable when getting car insurance than others. As a parent, you understand that getting a car that’s safe for your teenager is important, but there are a lot of teenage drivers on the road today simply driving cars with inferior protection. Midsize, large cars or minivans are types of cars generally considered safer. If you already own one of these types of cars, why not let the teenager have it and get yourself a newer vehicle. Mini-cars, small cars, sports cars, pickup-trucks and SUV’s are generally vehicles that aren’t recommended for teen drivers and will overall carry a higher premium when it comes to car insurance for teenagers.

These are some very good things to take note of when you are getting ready to purchase teen car insurance. But we’ll get more into cars and statistics in later articles here on New Car Insurance for Teenagers in the near future. Thanks for stopping by and if there is something in particular that you are looking for feel free to let us know.