As your child approaches the age of driving, especially if you are getting close to sending that child off to college, you need to consider the costs of properly insuring your young driver. Annual car insurance premiums can increase between 55% and 82% when you add a teen driver to your policy. The professionals at J.P. Perry Insurance want you to know that your current insurer might not be your best choice. Every insurance company calculates rates differently, considering factors such as age, location, gender and grade point averages. But regardless of adding a teen to an existing policy or seeking new coverage, your premiums will still be higher. Some here are some measures you can take to help lower these rates.
Participate In Usage-Based Driving Programs: By monitoring your child's driving habits, you could save between 5 - 30% on your premiums. A usage-based program utilizes tracking technology to monitor your teen's driving to provide data that determines insurance rates. Most of the big name insurers offer these programs and your J.P. Perry agent can help make the necessary arrangements.
Consider Young Driver Discounts: Many insurance companies will offer reduced rates for teens who have a certain grade point average or college students who live on campus and won't be using their car that often. Companies offer other discounts, such as the completion of driver training courses, membership in student honor societies and more. Again, your J.P. Perry agent can help you identify these discounts.
Consider Dropping Comp And Collision On That Older Car For Your Child: Many times parents will give their older/cheaper vehicle to their teen as a starter car. While it is important to keep high-liability limits on the new driver, comprehensive and collision insurance might not be worth the costs for an older car. If the deductible on your collision and comprehensive coverage is approaching your vehicle's total value, it would probably be time to drop these coverages.
Additional Ways To Save: When shopping for coverage, there are several other ways to save on premiums while adding your teen to the policy. These include family plan discounts, multi-vehicle discounts and raising deductibles.
These are all great strategies for reducing premiums, but your most effective strategy is to use your J.P. Perry agent to shop your options. Adding a teen driver will impact your current policy. So it is important to shop and compare coverages, quotes and any possible discounts. Your J.P. Perry agent knows how to do this effectively and they will save you all of the time and trouble it takes to get what works for you and your family.