Cheapest Car Insurance for Teens and Young Drivers (2021)

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How Easy is it to Find Affordable Car Insurance for Teens, New and Young Drivers? 

Finding affordable teenage drivers’ insurance can be difficult. Although your teen could be the safest driver in the world, insurance companies work based on numbers alone. Unfortunately, the statistics say otherwise. Although teenagers may not have the highest rates of fatalities (thankfully), the Insurance Information Institute shows that they are a lot more likely to be involved in an accident.

The main reason for this is that teens aren’t as experienced at driving. Many first-time drivers tend to treat driving as a game and don’t give enough respect to the fact that they’re driving a two thousand-pound vehicle at high speeds. That is, until it’s too late. 

Another reason for this is that teens’ prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed. This region of the brain is responsible for teens’ behavioral characteristics and governs risk-taking behaviors. Before it’s completely developed (at around 25-years-old), teens and young adults are more likely to take unnecessary risks. Simply put, they’ll run a red light or try to make that hard turn without thinking of the potential consequences ahead of time. 

Science and statistics aside, though, is it even possible to find affordable car insurance for teen drivers? In today’s post, we’re going to take a look at some easy ways to find the best car insurance for teens, young drivers and new drivers!

How To Find Cheap Car Insurance For Teens, Young and New Drivers

Although insuring a teen will almost always be more expensive than insuring an adult in your state, there are a number of different methods you can use to save money on your teen’s car insurance so that both you and your teen can rest easy knowing that you have an affordable, family-friendly policy. 

Let’s take a look! 

Add Teens to an Adult’s Policy

One of the best ways to reduce the cost of your teen’s policy is to add them to an adult’s insurance policy. When teens are added to the parent’s insurance policy, this gives the insurance agency more trust. It’s kind of like getting a loan co-signed by somebody with better credit than you- you’ll get a better deal with a lower interest rate. The same applies to putting a teen on an adult’s policy. They’ll get better coverage for a lower monthly premium. 

Usually, the teens' biological parents or guardians are the best choices since they tend to be older than 30 and have already built up a solid credit profile, a good relationship with their insurer, and, hopefully, have a decent driving record as well. 

The one downside to this is that the parents’ insurance policy will go up if their teen is involved in an accident. This means it’s critical for the parents to teach their teen safe driving practices and let them know the consequences of irresponsible driving. 

Buy a Cheaper Car for Teens

Other than your age and driving record (which teens have very little of), the best way to reduce your teen’s car insurance premiums is to buy them a cheaper car. Here’s a list of some of the cheapest cars to insure for teens, new and young drivers.

Cheaper cars lend themselves to more affordable car insurance for teen drivers because the insurance company has to pay for the repairs and damages to the vehicle. Newer vehicles or luxury vehicles can be double or triple the cost to repair or replace compared to older, used vehicles. 

That being said, it’s also important to ensure that your teen’s vehicle is safe. You never want to sacrifice safety for a few extra bucks. However, there are still lots of high-quality, used vehicles that have safety features such as:

• Driver and passenger airbags.

• ABS breaks.

• Anti-slip traction control.

• Blindspot warning.

These safety features will ensure that if your teen does get involved in an accident, that they’ll be more likely to come out injury-free, which should be the most important concern of all. 

Go With a Basic Liability Policy

This goes hand-in-hand with the above tip about buying a cheaper car for your teen. When you purchase an older car with cash and own it outright, then you can get away with just paying for a basic liability policy. These policies are typically your state’s minimum requirements and usually include:

• Bodily injury liability coverage.

• Property damage liability coverage.

A basic liability policy’s main goal is to pay for at-fault damages caused to other drivers’ property (their vehicle) and their medical bills if they’re injured. Of course, some parents may want the peace of mind that comes with giving their teens full-coverage insurance. However, if you think that your teen is a relatively safe driver or you live in a rural area where their risk of being in a deadly accident is lower, then starting them off with a simple policy may be the best option financially. 

Apply for Safe-Driver Discounts

If you’re insuring a brand-new teen driver, then you may not be able to apply for this discount. However, if your teen got their license at a younger age and they’ve had a couple of years without being involved in an accident or receiving a traffic ticket, then they may be eligible for a safe-driver discount. These discounts are typically given out to drivers who’ve maintained a steady, safe driving record. 

To find out, you’ll need to call your insurer and ask them if your teen is eligible for this discount. Not all insurers offer it, but there are a number of insurers that do, so it’s worth a shot if you’re trying to find the best rate on your teenage driver’s insurance. 

Compare Auto Insurance Quotes

Finally, the most surefire way to find affordable car insurance for teen drivers is to compare quotes. Unless you shop around a bit, you’ll never know whether or not there’s a better deal out there. Many insurers also offer considerable discounts for drivers who are switching from another insurer, so keep that in mind.