Posts Tagged young drivers
Cheap Car Insurance for a Young Driver – How to Get It
Posted by Steve in young drivers on March 27th, 2009
If Feels Great to Get Cheap Car Insurance
When you first start behind the wheel, you have many expenses, your car, gas, and insurance. How to get cheap car insurance for a young driver becomes a pretty important question, as insurance companies are usually not too friendly to younger drivers. This comes down to one thing; actuarial tables.
Actuarial tables quantify the risk an insurance company faces for a given set of variables. When examining the accident statistics for teenagers, one thing becomes frighteningly clear; they crash far more than the average person. That means the insurance company will pay out more, on average for drivers under 18 years of age. In fact the risk of serious injury or death for drivers in their first year behind the wheel are much higher than for the general population.
According to a U.S. Center for Disease Control report on driver safety and accident prevention, “Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.” This is in addition to the crashes caused by those in this age group that cause motor vehicle damage, but require no medical treatment.
Now you know what the insurance industry is so biased against young drivers. Here is what you can do about it if you’re in this group or paying the insurance bill for one of them.
Get the correct kind of car.
The make, model and year of vehicle plays a big part in the rates the company will ask you to pay. Performance oriented vehicles are more expensive to insure because of their higher accident rates and cost to repair.
According to the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) some great, inexpensive to insure cars for teen drivers include:
Jeep Wrangler LWB
Dodge Dakota Quad Cab
Honda Civic
Subaru Outback
Get Good Grades.
Accurately or not, the insurance companies view the person’s GPA as an indicator of their general responsibility, and otherwise good sense. Statistics also point to the insurance companies being spot on with this one. That’s why car insurance companies offer good student discounts. SO, if you’re in high school or college, keep those grades up and your insurance rates down.
Keep your Credit Score High.
If you’re only 16 you may not have to worry about this too much yet, but for those in their late teens or early 20’s the importance of your credit score can not be understated. Not only will your insurance company use this as one of their primary factors when setting your rates, but a high credit score will let you pay less for your loan when you buy your car too. You’ll also save money on everything else credit related as well.
Keep your driving record clean.
This is a biggie, especially for younger drivers. Many young drivers have a huge problem being responsible behind the wheel. This is yet another reason why getting a comparatively boring car will keep your rates down. You’ll pay less initially, but you’ll also stand a lower chance of doing dumb things that will get you cited by the local gendarmes. After all, it’s much harder to squeal the tires in 4 cylinder, all wheel drive Subaru than it is in a 1995 Camaro with a 5.7 liter V8.
Get a multi-Policy Discount.
Most companies will give you a discount for buying two or more lines of insurance from them. So, if you also have a motorcycle or boat, insure it with the same company that handles your car insurance. If you have renter’s insurance, look at them for this too. If you’re married, the insurance on your wedding rings may qualify you for this discount as well.
Keep your deductibles as low as possible.
This can really lower your rates. Your deductible is the amount that you’ll have to pay out of pocket before your insurance coverage kicks in. More practically it is the amount of damage that you can sustain before you report the accident to your insurance company. Since you want to report as few accidents as possible, you’ll usually be much better off to keep your deductibles high and just pay out of your own pocket unless the damage is so high that there’s no way you can afford to pay them yourself. When you report an accident to the insurance company rest assured your rates will rise.
Compare rates between different insurance companies.
Companies charge different rates and they price different risks differently. So because of your individual situation, you may get a much lower rate form one company than another. There are hundreds of good companies in the U.S. alone. Comparing them yourself is a very difficult and time consuming proposition. You can do it online quickly and easily, with a few mouse clicks – click here.
Insurance is never completely inexpensive, but following these simple guidelines will help you get cheap car insurance for a young driver if you are, or have to insure one.
