Auto Insurance For Teenagers
Every Parent Anguishes Over This Decision
No ... not the decision to let your teenager drive, but how to find affordable car insurance for them. While insuring a teen can be expensive, it need not empty your savings. By knowing a little bit about the many deductions available, you should be able to secure an affordable policy, allowing your young driver to get behind the wheel of a car.
This article will walk you through finding many of the common deductions that will help you find a lower insurance rate for your teenager. As you read on, please remember that not all deductions are available in every state and that not all insurance companies allow all deductions. The trick is to know which deductions typically exist, so you can ask if your insurance company allows for them, thus making your final bill much more affordable.
$60 in sixty minutes
That's how much you can profit by shopping around and asking some basic questions.
Insurance companies are typically interested in making money (who isn't nowadays), so the price they will offer you is on a basic policy with no deductions - and thats the price you will pay, provided you don't know about the many deductions that exist. Just knowing a few of the deductions can save you $60 or more over a year's time, which is well worth the time you will invest in your research.
And how do you save even more? By comparison shopping. So, go to your phone book and select at 5 to 10 insurance agents in your area. When looking for agents to call, try to keep them all from different companies, as two members of the same company will be held down to the same rules - and thus - the same rates.
Ask First
First off, do not start with your own agent - you want to walk back toward this one. Instead, pick a different agent and ask them a few questions. As you ask away, keep in mind that you are looking for an agent to take over your family's insurance needs.
Why?
Well, it's like this. If you intend to get a big discount, it all starts with placing your teenager on your insurance, which is a deep insurance cut in itself. So, in essence, you are shopping for yourself, as much as your teenager, and you will need to keep this in mind as you are shopping around, as any agent could become your new insurance agent.
Here's some more questions you will need to ask:
Do You Offer Safe Driver Discounts?
If your son or daughter has completed a safe driving course or a driver's education class, ask if there is a deduction for this. Many agents support this deduction, so it's definitely one you want to ask about.
Do You Offer a Discount When Insuring More Than One Car?
Many companies offer a multicar discount that cuts down a lot on the cost of insuring the teenager (as well as yourself). If you don;t ask about this one, you might not receive it automatically. As such, be sure to ask.
Do You Offer a Discount For Safety Features on Our Cars?
Many cars have airbags and anti lock brakes nowadays, and a lot of insurance companies offer discounts for such vehicles ... so be certain you ask.
Do You Offer a Discount For Anti Theft Devices?
This is another great discount that is often missed. If any of your cars has a car alarm, then you really need to ask about this one.
Do You offer Limited Use Discounts?
The limited use discount is for people who use their car just to drive to work and back or just to school and back. If you can convince your agent to allow a limited use discount for your teenager, you should see a substantial savings.
Now, Tell Them You are Shopping Around
After you say this, ask them if they have any other discounts available that might apply to you.
Believe it or not, some insurance agents are highly competitive, and when you tell them you are looking around they will try to lower the price further. Listen intently for the final price (with all discounts applied) and write down this quote ... along with the name of the agent, in case you decide to get back to this person.
Almost Done Shopping
Your last call will be to your own insurance agent. As you already have a history with this person, they have the most to lose by not seeing to it you get a great deal. As such, explain that you have a new teenage driver in the house and you have been shopping for car insurance, then show them the best rate you were quoted by the other companies and ask them if they can beat that rate.
Explain to them that the company told you that you would get the best rate for your teenager by switching to their insurance and tell your agent you don't really want to switch unless you can't get a deal close to the one you were showed elsewhere. Also, make sure to show them the discounts you were offered, as this shows you really (honestly) did your homework.
From here, your agent will either come up with a comparable deal, or the will apologize for not being able to do so. Provided they are unwilling to budge, then perhaps you will need to call back the other agent for the better deal, but the odds are slightly in your favor that your current agent will bend and provide a quote close enough to your lowest one to stay where you are at.
Why the Need For All of This Work?
The car insurance market revolves around offering you car insurance while making a profit. To do so, they often will only offer deductions if you are aware that they exist, and once they realize someone else educated you they will meet the discounts offered by the other agent. However, as they say in business, why lower the price if they're willing to pay more?
However, don't assume that your agent will be one of these money grubbers. My current agent has talked to me several times in the past when I went in to pay my bill, and has made me aware of discounts I might be eligible for, without ever having to ask for them. What's his motive? I chalk it up to the fact that he's a great guy and is very aggressive about keeping his clients from looking elsewhere ... his approach works. Too bad he's a bit of a rarity in the insurance market.
A Short Recap
- Select 5-10 agents to inquire with
- Ask about the typical discounts that exist
- Get a quote
- Ask if they have any other discounts
- Take the offer to your current agent and see if they can beat it
And if you follow all of these steps, you should be able to find affordable car insurance for your teenager.
Good luck!
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As Always, Comments Are Welcome
This can be quite expensive. It is so important that teens establish safe driving habits while working on their permits.
Cool avatar and very interesting and helpful hubpage.
Thanks
Yoshi97
This is a great article
I am thankful that my children are now grown. We had three teenagers with cars. We told them their grades were their ticket and driving was a privilege. I can only imagine what the rates are now.
Blessings
I'm glad I'm not a teenager anymore, as I remember how expensive it was to insure my car back then. But when I hit 25, my rates did go down big time, as I was a pretty safe driver (from what they knew!). My company (and still is) is State Farm. My agent actually asked me if my grades were good, back when I was a teenager. It turns out that if the teenager in question has a "B" average or better, more discounts were available! Defensive driving is another way to reduce your insurance premiums as well. Thanks for sharing.
Thank for the best article.
- AUTHOR
I wouldn't think that would be possible, had you not told us. Excellent advice, and I do thank you for pointing that out Milynch43. :)
Don’t hesitate to call a different agent with your current company.I did this and it took a letter to the home office to allow me to switch agents which I did and saved a bundle including a rebate. The reason was my agent was charging me for driving more than 7500 miles per year and when I questioned this he repeatedly told me it didn’t make a difference. When I saw some coworkers policy with the same company, I knew better. At first I was giving my name and being told the cost was the same and when I persisted they would hang up. So remain anonymous till you have an idea of the cost.
though situations differ in every country, some of the tips here will be very helpful.
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