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Why is car insurance for young drivers so expensive?
Car insurance rates are based on a number of factors such as the car you drive, your mileage, and statistically how likely you are to be involved in an accident. Insurance companies spend a huge amount of time analyzing data to reveal trends and patterns in accident statistics. Unfortunately the data clearly shows that, per mile driven, young drivers (16-19 year) are 3 times more likely to be involved in an accident than drivers aged between 65-69 years.
For this reason insurers group all young people together in a ‘high-risk category’ and as a consequence charge them higher premiums. But fear not, as a young person, there are things you can do to help minimize the costs whilst maintaining the coverage you need.
Why are young drivers more likely to be involved in an accident?
In a survey conducted in 2005 by the Allstate Foundation of 1000 teenage drivers they found that:
- 69% will exceed the speed limit to keep up with traffic
- 64% would speed to run a yellow light
- 56% of teenage drivers do use cell phones while driving
- 47% said that passengers often distract them.
Being a teenager is difficult enough, but the mixture of speed, peer pressure, bravado and countless other distractions, can all lead them to drive more dangerously, or at least with less care and attention, and hence the reason they have more accidents.
So, what can I do to keep the costs down?
Well there are several things you can do to help keep your premiums down, here are just a few:
- Go for a car that is cheaper to insure. It may sound obvious, but a car that is less likely to be targeted by thieves, has lower running and repair costs or is a lower performance vehicle is less likely to incur large premiums.
- Get added to your parents’ policy. It’s usually cheaper to add a teenager to their parents’ policy, rather than be insured separately (indeed, some companies will only insure young drivers on a family policy).
- Keep your grades up. Many insurers will offer a discount, some as high as 25%, for students who maintain grades at a B average.
- Get experienced. Taking a formal drivers training course will look good to insurers and should reduce your premiums. Some will even offer a 10% discount for those with proven driving experience.
- Shop around. Don’t just take the first quote you come across. Experts recommend getting at least 3 quotes from reputable insurers to make sure you can get the best deals available. You could use our online service to get free, easy and quick young driver car insurance quotes from a range of insurers.
What happens to my rates if I have an accident or get a ticket?
Any driver young or old is likely to see their premiums rise if you have an accident or are involved in a traffic violation, but the seriousness of the incident factors in how great the impact on your premiums will be. Get yourself a drink driving ticket as a young driver for example, and you could expect to have your policy cancelled, or at the very least pay a much higher rate for the next 3-5 years!
If you are involved in a crash especially one that causes expensive property damage expect to see your premiums rise when you next look to renew your policy, and also expect to be classified as a higher risk driver. If you have three or more of such incidents you can face cancellation or non-renewal of your policy.
Of course if you are not to blame for the accident your insurance premiums should not be affected.
Do I always have to report every accident to my insurance company?
It’s important this one – you should report every accident you have even if you don’t make a claim. If you don’t you run the risk of being sued by the other people involved and your insurance company may struggle to defend you, plus this can reflect badly on you.
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