As you may have already discovered, insuring a teenage driver can be very expensive.
Drivers under the age of 25 pose the greatest risk to insurers because of their
high level of at-fault accidents. Insurance companies seek to limit their exposure
by charging higher insurance rates for 16- to 24-year-olds than for any other
age group.
How expensive is it?
One option for insuring a teenage driver would be to add your teenager to your
existing auto insurance policy once he gets his permanent driver's license.
Although this can still be an expensive prospect, your teen might be able to
take advantage of certain discounts as a driver on your policy (e.g., safe-driver
and multiple-car discounts for which you are eligible).
If you drive an expensive vehicle, it will be even more costly to add your
teen to your policy. In this case, you might want to buy your son his own car
(a used economy model, of course) and insure it in his name, rather than add
him to your own policy. Older vehicles generally pose less risk to insurance
companies, because repairs tend to be less expensive than repairs to newer models.
Lower risk for the insurer typically translates into lower insurance premiums
for you.
What are my options?
The only way to determine your most cost-effective option is to contact your
insurance company and shop around with other companies while you’re at
it. If you're thinking about purchasing a used car for your teen, be prepared
to tell your insurer the make, model, and year of the cars you're considering.
This way you can receive accurate insurance quotes. These quotes can help you
decide whether to purchase separate insurance for your son or add him to your
policy; they may also help you decide which car to purchase, if you go that
route. So, get quotes for him as an addition to your policy, as well as for
him under his own policy.
Shop Around
You should shop around for other insurance companies by going online for multiple
quotes. You may find that it’s less expensive to insure your household
drivers with another company, even by several hundreds of dollars. And couldn’t
you use that savings for the college fund?
Please note that this description/explanation is intended only
as a guideline.