Car insurance rates have seen a continuous rise in recent years, and can be higher for young and new drivers. Young drivers, like teens or college students, have insurance companies commanding higher prices due to their lack of experience. However, this provides you with the perfect situation for learning how to reduce insurance costs. While finding cheaper rates on car insurance for young drivers is a difficult task, it is not, by any means, impossible.
Here are some auto insurance tips to help you find better deals for a young driver’s car insurance:
1. Participate in a driver training course or a defensive driving course
Defensive driving classes offer more practical knowledge than the mere basics. This is done by making young drivers practice in hazardous conditions, involving anticipating dangerous situations to avoid various types of accidents. Also, these courses are only priced between $25 and $75 and also help you get a discount of around 5 to 15% on your insurance policy. However, you should also know that the requirements set by the insurer and state law for these discounts are quite different.
For example, 21st Century Insurance provides young drivers with a discount, but these drivers need to have participated in a state-approved defensive driving course. On the other hand, Esurance offers discounts without a specific age limit in Oklahoma, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, and Georgia.
2. Stay on your parent’s policy
If it is possible, include your name in your parent’s policy as a named driver. Continue to do so as long as possible. Typically, this is a great auto insurance tip to get insurance at good rates as a young driver. The combined discount that you and your parents would get among multiple cars is approximately 25%.
3. Drive the cheapest car in the household
This is one of the easiest auto insurance tips to get a discount. If your family owns multiple cars, it is better to have a fixed one that only you use. Also, you should always select the car that can be insured at the cheapest rates. You should always check the terms of the insurance policy and double-check it with your insurer. This auto insurance tip is important as many companies automatically assign the most expensive vehicle to young drivers if you do not tell them to do otherwise. This allows them to charge a higher premium owing to both the cost of the car and the driver being inexperienced.
4. Use distance discounts
Car insurance can make your wallet lighter by a great amount if you are a college student, but you can take advantage of some discounts, like the “student away” discount. It can provide you with up to a 20% discount on your insurance cost, which can make a significant difference in the premiums you have to pay to secure your vehicle.
