It can be a challenge to find cheap car insurance for teens. Many factors go into determining a teenager’s insurance rates, including age, location, driving experience, and credit history. Below are some tips on how to get cheaper teen car insurance so that you’re not stuck spending hundreds of dollars on insurance for your teen each month!
How does coverage work for teen car insurance?
Car insurance is a type of liability insurance, meaning it covers damage caused to the teen driver or any other people involved in the incident. Generally, teen car insurance policies will always cover any damages caused to another person’s property or the medical bills of other parties involved in the car accident.
Your teen’s car insurance will also typically have collision coverage and comprehensive coverage. Collision coverage pays for damage your teen causes after an accident with their own vehicles, such as damaged rims, popped tires, and dents in the exterior of the car.
Comprehensive coverage protects against damage caused by circumstances outside of your teen’s control. Some examples include hailstorms, sudden fires, vandalism, theft, flooding, or objects that fall onto their vehicle and affect how the car performs.
Typically, a young driver will have a higher insurance rate because teen drivers have less driving experience under their belt, and as such, they are more likely to cause accidents than adults. Therefore, you might see premium prices when shopping for your teen’s driver insurance.
How much is car insurance for teen drivers?
Most teen drivers spend around $3,000 to $7,000 per year on car insurance, with the national average sitting at $5,925. The final car insurance rate for your teen will vary depending on where you live, your teen’s driving record, and the type of car they drive.
Average Annual Teen Car Insurance Rates
| Age | GEICO | Allstate | State Farm |
| 16 | $5,748 | $13,692 | $6,924 |
| 17 | $5,076 | $10,024 | $6,192 |
| 18 | $4,224 | $10,724 | $5,670 |
| 19 | $3,381 | $10,250 | $4,724 |
Tips for lowering car insurance for teenagers
It can be a challenge to find the cheapest car insurance for teens. With tons of factors working against them, it might seem impossible to find a reasonable rate.
Thankfully, there are many ways to lower your teenager’s car insurance. Below are some tips on how to get cheaper teen car insurance so you’re not stuck spending hundreds of dollars on insurance each month!
Improve credit score
Plan on keeping your teen on your car insurance? Try to improve your credit score! Your car insurance premiums might be partially determined by your credit score, depending on the insurance company and state you live in.
If you could use a bump in your credit to reduce your car insurance rates, try a Credit Builder Loan from MoneyLion. More than half our members raised their score by up to 27 points within 60 days!
Purchase a safe car
This might seem obvious, but teens who purchase a safer vehicle are less likely to have accidents. A teen’s safest bet is buying a car with excellent crash test scores and no history of being in any accidents.
Examples include the Honda Civic, the Toyota Corolla LE Eco, the Hyundai Elantra Limited, and the Kia Forte LX. Choosing one of these cars for your teen could likely lower your monthly insurance cost!
Push your kids to get good grades
Car insurance companies see teen drivers as riskier than adults. As a result, they often assume that teen drivers are not responsible drivers.
However, students who get good grades are more responsible and tend to be better drivers, which is a good sign in the eyes of your teen’s car insurance provider. For this reason, it is a brilliant idea to encourage your teen to study more and get good grades so that, in turn, their academic success can help to lower their premium rate!
Add your teen to your existing coverage
Sometimes teen insurance rates might be cheaper if you add your teen to your existing car policy rather than getting them a car insurance policy of their own. In addition, some insurance carriers offer teen-friendly discounts that will assist in lowering teen car insurance premium prices, so it is a good idea to investigate all of your teen’s options before buying a separate teen auto insurance policy.
Shop around
There are many car insurance companies that offer coverage for teens. So, it is a good idea to shop around and compare teen auto insurance quotes before purchasing any of them. Make sure you look into multiple teen driver insurance carriers to understand the breakdown of pricing and how much teenage driver insurance will cost in general.
Cheap car insurance from large companies for teenagers
Even if you don’t own policies with some of the more prominent names in the world of insurance, you might find that you can receive a more significant discount due to the fact that they already provide insurance to so many teens. Here are a few ways you can find cheap car insurance for teens by switching your coverage over to a larger insurance company!
Teen driver safety and discount programs
Aside from teen-friendly insurance rates, many of these companies also offer teen driver safety programs and teen driving courses to help teen drivers stay safe on the roads and avoid accidents. This may include a defensive driving course or a teen driver safety course.
College student discounts
Some teen driver insurance companies offer discounts to teen drivers who are enrolled in college, especially if their car is at home. If your teen is moving away for school, you could save money on teen car insurance by letting your insurance company know.
Good driver discounts
Teens who have a clean driving record and haven’t received any violations or been in an accident recently could receive a teen driver insurance discount. Additionally, some companies will give teen drivers a good driver discount for the teen’s first three years of driving, which can save you up to 30% in addition to other discounts offered to teens for their positive driving behavior, like avoiding accidents and not receiving any violations.
Cheapest car insurance for teen drivers by state
To find teen driver insurance at the lowest prices possible, you need first to understand what the average rate in your state looks like. This will help you understand what to expect when shopping for car insurance.
The least expensive states for insurance include these three states:
- Virginia: $993
- Ohio: $959
- Iowa: $1,073
In contrast, the most expensive three states in terms of car insurance include the following:
- Michigan: $2,368
- Florida: $2,250
- Louisiana: $2,228
Find financial assistance for car insurance today!
We all have to pay for car insurance, including teenagers. Unfortunately, finding cheap car insurance for teens can be challenging because of how expensive it tends to be. Thankfully, by investigating the options we mentioned above, you’ll be able to find the cheapest car insurance for teens with a bit of patience, effort, and resilience.
However, if all of the car insurance rates that you find are too high and you need some quick cash while you search for better rates, Instacash has you covered!
