Finding Great Insurance

Not everyone got the lecture on insurance when they were first learning how to drive. In fact, a lot of people are as surprised as young adults at how expensive auto insurance can be. If you are attempting, as a parent, to add your teen to your car insurance plan for the first time, you may be blown away at what it costs. Here are some startling figures to prepare you for what it will cost to insure your teen driver on your own car and why these rates are so high.

Quotes Are Still Higher for Boys Than Girls

This is one time the "pink tax" does not count. When it comes to insurance, teen boys are charged more than any other age group, including teen girls. This is based on data collected over several decades that shows that teen boys are a higher risk for their riskier driving behaviors than girls. If you are insuring both a teenage son and a teenage daughter, you will easily see the discrepancy in the quotes. It is even more obvious if and when you insure a set of fraternal twins with different genders. 

Teens Are Extremely Inexperienced Drivers

Despite all the time driving behind the wheel and taking a driver's test, teens are still far too inexperienced when it comes to driving. That makes them huge risks for companies to insure. Car insurance companies are taking major chances on these young people to insure them, hoping that no damage is caused and no accidents ever occur. As teens get older and become more experienced drivers and have zero accidents and tickets to report, the cost of insurance begins to drop. All you can do is remind them to be extremely careful and hope that they listen. Then, the cost of insuring them will eventually get easier on your budget.

The Make and Model of Car Makes a Difference, Too

There is a huge difference between insuring a teen driver on, say, a Cadillac or Lexus, than there is on a Buick family sedan. Car insurance companies see makes and models of vehicles in terms of expensive versus inexpensive; dollar signs to repair and replace versus no hurt to the insurance company. A teen driver in a "luxury" vehicle will cost you hundreds more to insure than a teen in an "elderly Sunday driver's car."  It may be best to buy an older, cheap make and model since it will cost less in insurance than to put your teen driver on a more expensive vehicle.