Teenage Drivers
They’ve passed their road test; time to add your teen driver, possibly a vehicle, to your existing auto policy.
So what’s next?
When it comes to covering a youthful/teenage operator, not all insurance carriers are created equal. There are some key points to look for in a company that has more discounts available, leading to better rates, without sacrificing coverage.
Discounts
An insurance company that caters to young drivers will have multiple discounts available, these include:
good student (A or B GPA)
driver’s education
accident prevention course discount
student away from at college.
Multiple discounts available lead to the probability of better rates.
Technology Advancements
Advances in insurance-based technology can help not only in rates, but in your understanding of your child’s driving abilities.
Telematic devices monitor an operator’s driving habits including
How hard they brake
How fast they accelerate from a stop
Amount of miles being driven, and
What time of the day / night said miles take place.
Good driving behaviors can be rewarded with a discount.
Insurance Rating
A big factor in the rating of a teen driver is what vehicle they regularly driven.
All licensed household drivers should be listed on your insurance policy. With that said, anyone you give permission to is covered to operate any of your vehicles.
But, when it comes to the rating of your own insurance policy, each driver needs to be rated on each specific vehicle.
Not all Insurance Company’s will look at it the same way, some carriers will rate your teen on the highest rated vehicle, regardless of use. Independent insurance agents have more options available to customize the household drivers to their general use vehicle.
Some Insurance Company’s have specific teen driver programs that can help alleviate that as well. One of our carrier partners, Hanover Insurance Group, has a program that allows the child to only be rated on the vehicle that they drive. This will help the overall rating of the households auto insurance policy but will limit the coverage if your teen drivers a different vehicle.
A great example of where this can come into play is if you have a sports car that they teen driver will never touch.
What’s Next?
Understanding how the auto insurance policy works will help ease the painful increase you will see when adding a teen driver to your auto insurance policy.
Making sure you know all the discounts available and what options you have is important.
If you don’t have a relationship with an independent insurance agent this is a perfect time to reach out for a review of your insurance.
Click below to learn more about how to proceed.
