Things to Know About Teens and Auto Insurance

If you're the parent of a teenager you have enough to worry about. The newspapers are full of horror stories about teen pregnancy, teen drug abuse, and teen criminals. Add these concerns to the naturally confrontational attitudes that many children develop between the ages of thirteen and twenty and the sum is the cause of prematurely grey hair in mothers and increased instances of male pattern baldness in fathers. There are three phrases that parents dread hearing from their teenagers. Two of them are avoidable through good parenting and strong choices made by the teen, but the third is inevitable. The avoidable ones are “Mom, Dad… I’m pregnant” and “Mom, Dad, I’ve been arrested.” The inevitable one is “Mom, Dad… can I borrow the car?” Once you hear that one (and you will) you know it is high time to start thinking about teens and auto insurance.

Auto insurance for teenagers is expensive, for obvious reasons. Teen drivers are inexperienced, more likely to break speed and safe driving laws, and at higher risk for being involved in (and the cause of) auto accidents. Your insurance company can help you by giving you facts about teens and auto insurance and providing tips about things that you and your child can do to lower the cost of teen auto insurance. A few of those tips are listed here.

• Enroll your teen in a driver’s education class or a driving school.
• Have your teen get a job.
• Make sure your teen maintains good grades.

While these things may seem to have nothing to do with driving or auto insurance for teenagers, the can have an impact on the insurance rates you pay for teen auto insurance. Enrollment in a driver’s education class in school or at an outside driving school can significantly reduce the amount the insurance company will charge. Holding down a job and maintaining good grades show responsibility on behalf of the teenager and responsibility tends to equate to safer driving in the eyes of the insurance company. These things will also help to lower the rates on your teen’s auto insurance.