How to Get the Best Rates on Car Insurance for Young People

If you’re under the age of 25 and haven’t researched the cost of car insurance yet, then chances are you’re in a for a rude awakening

Sadly, since 2012, the consumer price index for car insurance has risen by 21.5%. That’s an unreal amount!

However, don’t worry too much. In this blog post, we’re going to focus on how to get the best car insurance for young people.

Read on for our top tips.

We know this sounds patronizing, and we apologize for that.

However, this is hands down the easiest way to bring down the cost of your insurance. The longer you go without making a claim, the lower your rates.

If you receive a violation, we recommend contesting it in court. This will help you avoid getting points on your license that’ll increase your premium.

With that in mind, here are a few things to bear in mind:

• Always obey the speed limit.
• Never drive under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or prescription medication that makes it dangerous for you to drive.
• Obey all traffic laws.
• Never text and drive.
• Don’t be afraid to tell rowdy passengers to quiet down.
• Never drive if you feel drowsy.
• Always be aware of other road users.
• Make compensations for lousy weather.

If you stick to the above rules, you’ll be one of the safest drivers on the road.

We highly recommend taking a safe driving course. This communicates to insurance companies that you’re serious about driving safely.

Consequently, it also saves you a fair amount of cash!

Are you a student? If so, you might be able to get discount when you achieve good grades.

Correlations show that students with higher GPAs are more likely to have a greater sense of personal responsibility. They are also less likely to participate in risky behavior that could lead to an accident.

All you need to do is hunt for insurance companies that offer policies with a “good grade discount.”

Typically, to qualify for this discount the following conditions need to be met:

• You have to be under 25 years old
• You have to be a full-time student
• You have to have an average 3.0 GPA or be on the Honor Roll or Dean’s List.

However, you’ll need to check with your specific insurance policy to see what their terms are.

It’s always worth asking an insurance company if they offer some kind of promotional package you can benefit from.

You never know–they may have a specific package of car insurance for young people. After all, if you don’t ask, you don’t receive!

Usually, parents add their children to their existing insurance policy as an “occasional driver.” This is known as an “umbrella policy.”

The benefit of doing this is that the rates for an “occasional driver” are much less than the primary driver. This tends to be the most popular solution when it comes to handling car insurance for young people.

However, for this insurance to be valid, the young driver has to surrender the vehicle to the primary policyholder. Plus, you’ll have to rely on each other. And if anyone on the “umbrella policy” has an accident, then your rates will rise!

This approach has both pros and cons, so you’ll need to give this some thought.

As with taking out any insurance, you’ll need to do your research.We suggest doing the following:

You must always shop around and see what different insurance companies have to offer.

However, you must ensure you’re comparing like-for-like coverage. Sometimes policy seems cheaper, but they don’t provide you with the same amount of coverage.

Needless to say, this may come back to bite you in the long run.

This is the only way to see what your “average” rate is. Plus, it’ll aid you when it comes to negotiating quotes with other insurance providers. Knowledge is most certainly power when it comes to taking out an insurance policy.

Typically, major car insurers will allow you to generate an approximate quote on their website for free. So knock yourself out and get researching.

If you haven’t already purchased your car, you may want to take into consideration the model and age of the vehicle you buy.

Why? Because this can impact your insurance.

Insurance policies vary between states, so be sure to do your research. For example, in South Carolina, an older car has a lower resale value. Therefore insurance tends to be cheaper.

However, in Florida, because older cars usually have fewer safety features, they may be more expensive to insure than a newer model.

Usually, expensive cars with unique foreign parts are more costly to insure because they’re more expensive to repair (which makes sense). And the more significant the motor, the higher the cost.

This is because powerful engines are designed for higher speeds. Hence, your car insurance company sees you as a bigger risk and will increase the cost of your insurance policy.

Before purchasing car insurance, you should consider how many miles you drive annually.

Then, if it’s possible, you could negotiate a lower quotation in exchange for a lower annual mileage cap.

If you’d like more info on car insurance for young people, please feel free to visit our website and drop us a line. We’d be more than happy to help you out!

Alternatively, you may find the other articles on our blog of interest, where you’ll find more information on all things car insurance.