Just yesterday they were cutting their teeth on your car keys. Now your precious angel is all grown up (or so they think) and their ideas of what they should be doing with your car keys have changed a little bit. Are you ready for the challenge of trying to find cheap car insurance for your teen driver?
There's always been a tremendous amount of hype about teen drivers and cheap car insurance (or the lack thereof). Most parents expect their monthly premiums to fly through the roof when their teen gets their drivers license, and in most cases they're not far off. Did you know that the average sixteen year old is, statistically speaking, ten times more likely to be involved in an accident than a thirty or forty year old driver?
Those numbers probably don't come as a shock to anyone, especially anyone living in a major urban area like Los Angeles or New York. Experienced drivers get into accidents every day in these bumper car towns, so a driver with no experience dealing with the fact that many people forget how to drive when they're stuck in traffic is doomed before they ever step out of the house! The down side is, fixing cars costs money. If your insurance company's going to be paying for claims (which they expect to do if they're bringing a teen driver on board) they're going to charge you for it.
The good news is that cheap car insurance for teen drivers isn't as unheard of as most parents think it is-understanding, of course, that "cheap" is entirely relative. There are things that you as a parent and your teen as a driver can do to keep costs low while at the same time minimizing the chance that they'll be involved in an accident.
First and foremost, make sure your teen completes a formal driver's education program, with X number of hours spent working with a driving instructor with nerves of steel in the passenger's seat. Most schools offer a driver's education program, and in some states it's mandatory; however, if your teen's school doesn't or they're not enrolled make sure they complete a formal training program. Not only does that add positive points to their license right from the very beginning (which is going to pave the way to cheap car insurance more quickly than anything else you can do) it will also teach them some of the basics for dealing with emergencies when they're behind the wheel.
Secondly, if you really want to find cheap car insurance for your teen driver you're going to have to convince them to help. Teen drivers with good grades are able to enjoy good student discounts, so this might be the time for your teen to find their place on the school honor roll or Dean's list. Also, once they hit the highways encourage them to follow the rules of the road and keep their nose clean. A clean record will go a long way toward sending your car insurance premiums spiraling.
Finally, take an active role in the hunt for cheap car insurance. Consider purchasing your teen their own car or restricting their driving privileges to the least expensive vehicle in your household. Shop around to see which car insurance providers are teen friendly, and consider raising your deductibles in exchange for lower premiums for the rest of the year.
Cheap car insurance for teen drivers isn't the impossible dream many parents think it is, but it's up to you and your teen to take the steps that will make that dream a reality.
by: Cliff Berman
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