If your teen is not yet driving, you have not yet experienced the sticker shock of adding a teenager to your auto insurance policy. But if you have had this jaw-dropping experience, then you are in the right place to find some ways to help reduce the costs of auto insurance when you have a teenage driver in the house.
It's completely normal for their premiums to be more than yours; in fact, some families find that adding a teenage doubles the cost of auto insurance. Not to mention, males may be charged more since that demographic tends to have more accidents.
Try these four things to help reduce your costs:
1. Let the insurer track your teen's driving. Some auto insurance companies are now installing devices to track how the driver operates the vehicle. Speed, breaking habits and turning are all things that are monitored and reported to the company. Upon seeing that the driver handles the car well, insurance costs can drop for proving safe practices.
2. Ask for a good student discount. This only works if your teen truly is a good student, but each company has their own definition of what that means (and it might be slightly lower than you think). Your teen may qualify for this discount if he or she maintains a B average.
3. Buy a used vehicle. Used vehicles, especially older models, are often less expensive to insure. There's really no reason a teen needs a brand new vehicle. Buying a used car teaches them the value of hard work and saving up to pay for their first car. Plus, it can help save them money on insurance too.
4. Inform the insurance company when your teen is away at school and not driving. For teens that go away to boarding schools or are in college without a vehicle, let you insurance company know this so they can pause or reduce your child's coverage. This is usually easy and you just make a phone call to your company whenever the teen will be home for a weekend or break. Do be careful if they are using a friend's car while on campus; you probably cannot pause the coverage and still be protected in the event of an accident.
We’ve got your kid covered. Call Overbay Insurance Services at 828-452-4699 for more information on Waynesville auto insurance.