Insuring Your Teenage Driver

If you have a teenager who's nearing driving age, you may be a bit daunted at the thought of not only giving the keys to your car, but also the price that's going to come with insuring them for driving. You've no doubt read the news stories. There are high numbers of teenage accidents, often with deadly consequences. Not only does this bring fear into the minds of parents who have children of this age, but also trepidation into the insurance industry that's asked to cover them. And a nervous insurance industry always translates into higher policy costs.

Technically, you really can't blame the insurance industry for raising the rates on younger drivers. They base their costs on statistics; in other words, the projected likelihood of a person they're having an accident. That means for younger drivers the rates will be substantially higher, since the risk of something happening tends to be much greater with them behind the wheel. But before you think you'll have to go broke insuring your teen to drive, be assured that there are a number of things you can do to lessen the costs and keep them down for years to come.

• First, compare rates. Different companies have different policies when it comes to insuring teenage drivers. Shop around carefully to find the most economical rates that still offer the coverage you need.
• Choosing a higher deductible will lower the rates for your teen's auto insurance. The higher the deductible, the lower the policy's premiums will be.
• A car's safety features can have a positive impact on insurance rates for your teenager. Insurance companies often offer deductions for various safety features such as air bags, anti-lock breaks, security systems and other safety features that may be installed in the vehicle.
• If your teen's school offers a driver's education training course, make sure that he or she enrolls in it. Most insurance companies will offer a rate reduction for students who have successfully completed such a program and have learned the rules of the road.
• The type of car your child will be driving will have an impact on the insurance rates you'll pay for that car. Before you decide on a vehicle, evaluate the cost to insure it. Sportier cars are going to command much higher insurance rates since many teens are often tempted to test just how fast they can go.
• Once your child has the car and car insurance, you must make a concerted effort to protect those rates. In other words, you'll have to make it clear to your child that driving a car and having insurance are not rights, but privileges that they need to safeguard and exercise with responsibility.

Finally, do your best to ensure that your teen is very careful whenever driving, because even one minor infraction can cause his or her already high insurance rates to positively go through the roof. As soon as a teen shows signs of being less-than-responsible on the road, the insurance company will hike its rates substantially in order to protect its financial interests.