Many parents right now are struggling to pay their car insurance premiums. It can be much harder if you have young teen drivers to insure. With the economy being in a recession, many parents are caught in a catch 22 situation. They can either deny their young teen driver a driver’s license or be forced to constantly drive their kids around. Most parents work 9 to 5 every day and they are exhausted when they come home.
Teen drivers are the most expensive drivers to insure even when added to the insurance policies of their parents.
One issue that ends up coming up is the dream car of a teenager. Many teen boys dream about their first set of wheels. However, they do not understand how auto insurance coverage works. For example, one 17 year old boy wanted to buy a 1992 Seville. When his mother went to insure his car she found out that it would cost $350 per month.
One thing that driver’s education classes these days do not teach teens about is how car insurance coverage actually works. Even a teenager with no traffic tickets or accident claims will still pay hundreds of dollars per month for automobile insurance coverage. Most parents who have a teen either buy them a car or tell their teen driver to pay for their own car without thinking about the financial consequences that are involved. Once you decide to insure more than two vehicles in the same household, you will pay through the nose for your auto insurance premiums.
One option for parents is to just have two vehicles and list their teens as occasional drivers. There is an extra charge for this but it can save hundreds of dollars per year for parents. However, it can cause conflicts with the usage of the vehicles especially if the teen driver has a part time job or after school activities that they need to drive to every day.
Many families can barely get by and insuring a 16 to 18 year old driver is a huge expense. One idea for parents is to make their child hold off on buying a car until they can pre-pay their own car insurance premiums for at least six months. This shows the parents that the driver is taking the right steps to make sure that they will have their car insurance premiums paid in full so that the parents are not shouldered with this huge financial burden.
Taking defensive driving classes and making sure that the teen gets good grades can help them save money on their car insurance premiums. Parents should consider making sure that their teen drivers get good grades or hand over the keys so that they can make sure that they are acting responsibly when it comes to their driving privileges.
Summer will be here in about two months which means that teens will be out of school so they will more likely to want to be behind the wheel of a car. Parents need to be vigilant because one traffic ticket or accident claim could spell big trouble for their own auto insurance premiums.
Most teens do not really take traffic tickets seriously. When an automobile insurance company sees that a teen driver has even one speeding ticket they begin to get worried that the teen is a risky driver. Many automobile accidents are caused every year by speeding so it is a huge concern when insurance claims adjuster review insurance policies when they come up for renewal.
Many auto insurance companies have programs for teen drivers.
One great way for parents to be able to get their teens lower auto insurance premiums is to shop around. The Internet allows parents to get insurance quotes for their kids in about five minutes or less.
It is important before you allow your teen to get insured that they have a driving record that looks as clean as possible. If your child has already been involved in an automobile accident or has more than two traffic tickets, then you will want to keep them under your insurance policy before allowing them to get their own vehicle.
Insuring your teen at 16 with their own vehicle can be a costly mistake as well because they do not really have any experience behind the wheel and they are a new driver. When a driver does not have a driving record, it can also cause issues for claims adjusters. This is because they do not know what to expect out of the driver because they are young and have not been exposed to the road much yet.
Parents often feel like they are under the gun to get their teen driver a vehicle. If you do get your teen driver a vehicle, make sure to check its insurance rates and the crash test ratings so that the driver can have a safe and affordable car to insure.
