Top Tips To Know And Use When Insuring Your Teen Driver

Teenage drivers fall into the category of high-risk drivers because they are the leading group of people who cause auto accidents. An auto accident leads to claims, and claims cost insurance companies money. If you need to insure your teen driver, you might wonder how to do this in an affordable manner. Here are the best tips to know and use when you need to insure a teen driver in your home.

Prepare the Teen for Driving

The first thing you might want to do is to find ways to prepare your teen for driving. By giving them some experience on the roads, they can develop better and safer driving habits. One option is to enroll the teen in a safe-driving program, such as defensive driving or something similar. When teens take driving classes, they learn how to drive safely. They also gain experience driving because the teachers take them on the roads to drive. You might also want to discuss driving rules and habits with your teen to help them prepare for driving themselves.

Create Rules for the Teen to Follow

The next thing you can do is create rules for them to follow when they begin driving. For example, you might want to tell them that they will lose their driving privileges if their grades drop or if they get in an accident. You might want to limit their driving to school and back only. You can develop other rules, too, such as making them responsible for paying part of the auto insurance bill. You can choose the rules, but you should make sure you enforce them after making them.

Add the Teen to Your Auto Insurance Plan

The next thing step you can take is to put the teen driver on your policy instead of purchasing a separate one from a different company. When you purchase a separate plan from a different company, you might miss out on some discounts. When you add the driver, you might instantly qualify for extra discounts, as insurance companies offer discounts for multi-driver policies. Adding a teen to your plan is simple. To do this, you contact your insurance company to let them know that you want to add another driver.

Choose the Right Vehicle for Them

Are you planning on getting a car for your teen driver? If so, you will have to also add another vehicle to your policy for coverage. If you do not want to get another car, you might just want to let the teen drive one of the vehicles you already have. The main point is to know that if you buy your teen a car, the car you choose greatly affects the rates you will pay for your car insurance. The best type of car to purchase is one that you can pay cash for and that is not worth a lot of money. If you pay cash for the car, you can add liability coverage to the plan and nothing else. Secondly, insuring a cheap car will cost less, as insurance companies base rates on a vehicle's value.

Avoid Claims if Possible

The last thing to know is that you should try to avoid filing claims, as this might cause an increase in your premiums. If your teen has an accident, can you afford to pay the damages instead of filing a claim? If so, you will avoid costly hikes in your premiums.

When you follow these tips, you might save a lot of money on your teen's auto insurance plan. If you would like to learn more about teen auto insurance coverage and discounts you might qualify for, contact an insurance company today. A car insurance agent can provide further information.