When our children grow up we need to fulfill their demands which can at times be a necessity but come along with a lot of dilemmas for parents-such as letting them drive independently.
As they progress towards the late teenage years most of the children start taking responsibilities for their own requirements that may entail them to go outside of the house. At this stage, the driving license and car insurance become a necessity.
But, how much is car insurance for a 17 year old? Getting a driving license may not be a big hurdle if your teenager has perfected his driving skills. However, there are various perspectives on a 17 years old teenager’s insurance policy.
Among the various contributing factors that have a major impact on the cost of car insurance of 17 years old. It is known that the cost of auto insurance policies for young drivers is particularly more than a general adult’s car insurance policy.
What Makes the Car Insurance Policy Expensive for a 17 Years Old Driver?
There are 2 main reasons that are responsible for it:
The Risk Associated with the Age
The teenage is considered to be a tender age when the youngsters easily get driven by their emotional spurge. Therefore it is not considered safe for them to drive vehicles on the roads on their own. This increased risk element causes the insurance companies to raise the price of their insurance plan for young drivers.
The Risk Associated with the Lack of Experience
It is very well understood that the young drivers in their late teens hardly have any experience of on the road driving and handling complicated situations amidst traffic. It makes them vulnerable to more road accidents while driving. This also contributes significantly to raising the risk factor of the insurance companies who thereby increase the price of insurance to cover their own risk.
Ways to Reduce the Price of Car Insurance
Although car insurance is expensive for teenagers, it can be possible to find some redemption in the cost of insurance by following some of the measures as mentioned below:
Attain Perfection in Driving Skills
The biggest disadvantage with the young drivers is that they do not have a number of years of experience to count. Therefore they need to work on something else that can give certification of their excellent driving skills.
There can be some advanced courses of driving that you can take up. These courses are meant to perfect the driving and road skills of the teenagers and young drivers who have just begun to get their own vehicle on the road.
Such courses not only help in ensuring your own road safety measures by giving you improved driving skills but also help in attaining cheaper auto insurance policy.
There are some insurance companies that trust these advanced driving courses and offer discounts to young drivers who have completed some accredited driving courses from some recognized institute.
You will easily be able to find some institutes in your locality who offer such courses. The hack here can be that these driving schools must be able to help their students in attaining a driving license and insurance policy without doing much running around. They must be having their own contacts in the field that must help their clients in a big way.
Never Go Out Without a License and Car Insurance Policy
The youngsters have this tendency to outsmart the rules and regulations. But in case of driving on the road, this habit may prove out to be very costly. Teenagers should know that they should not go out of their house without their driving license and car insurance.
Some young drivers feel that their job is done when they have attained the driving license. That, however, is not the truth. If you may be stopped for any regular checking on suspicion and you are found to be missing on the insurance documents there can be heavier penalties levied on you.
Therefore it is important that you buy at least the third party car insurance which is stated as the minimum legal obligation. Such car insurance cover is meant to ensure the other person’s vehicle if you accidentally damage their vehicle or any other property. In addition to this, some other car insurance schemes are available that ensure your own vehicle from theft and damage.
However, it is better to buy the all-in-one car insurance plan that is fully comprehensive for all types of insurance policies. It covers all types of risks associated with the on-road car driving, theft, damage to personal as well as the public property, etc.
Add Your Name to the Parent’s Car Insurance Policy
This is a very common tactic that is followed by various parents. They get their wards (teenager) name added to their own insurance policy. This is a less expensive approach that reduces the total cost of 2 different insurance plans.
Such policy is two-way help in attaining the car insurance for the young 17-year old driver. First is that the policy takes into account the number of years of experience and a proven driving record of the parents on the policy papers.
Parents can churn in big discounts on the basis of their credibility, proven track records, some state discounts as well as excellent credit scores. Although the total cost of their personal policy gets increased, it is cheaper than buying two separate policies for the teenager as well as the parents.
Secondly, the teenager can drive the car of his parents being labeled as borrowed for occasions as the policy has now covered him under the liability of parents. Similarly, parents can also drive the car which is owned by their teen.
No Claims Bonus
If you have been a safe driver who has not got involved in any type of car insurance plan in a given year, then it means you must have not even filed a claim for it.
This ensures that you are being termed as a safe driver. At the time of attaining the car insurance for the following year- you can always present your last year’s no claim policy documents that can help you in securing some discount or bonus on the new policy. Such bonds can be an add-on advantage with the proceeding time if you continue to maintain your good performance on road. Over the years the bonus can contribute significantly to your car insurance cost.
Do Not Buy an Expensive Car
When you are going to claim your first ever car insurance, the companies ask about the specifications of the vehicle that you will drive. If your first vehicle is going to be very expensive with all the modern and advanced features of technology, there will be risks of high-speed parameters associated with it.
Therefore, it is advised that once you begin to drive, buy a simple and less costly vehicle with moderate speed and mileage limits. It will make you less vulnerable to bring any damage to the roads. Also, the companies tend to consider that the customers who can buy an expensive car can afford to buy expensive insurance too.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea if you start with a used car from someone in the family.
For car insurance without any down payment, check this.
Compare the Prices
We always advise our readers to compare and analyze the prices of all the available options in the market. Using online tools it is easier for anyone to compare the prices of policies that are offered by various companies.
At times there are such clauses mentioned under the policy that may not be needed by you to be covered. Therefore, you can read the details of the various policies that are given on the websites of insurance companies.
There are various online policy comparing tools that are available to make your job easy. You can compare the prices and the features before making the final decision of buying. Also, you can contact some company agents to talk terms about the areas that you do not wish to get covered in your desired plan. It will further help in reducing the cost of the insurance policy.
Good Student Report Card
If your academic record vouchers for your track record of being a good student who has been displaying outstanding educational as well as extracurricular activities achievements, you have a way to go with insurance companies. There are some insurance companies that offer special discounts to the students on their first insurance who have attained good academic scores during their school and college period.
Conclusion
Car insurance for 17-years old can be expensive due to the risks associated with their age and lack of experience. Although it is not really possible to skip every cost being levied but it is indeed possible to get some rebates on the policy.
By adopting some careful measures one can definitely attain good discounts on their current policy and aim to keep on getting discounted rates in the future with their no claim bonus and good track record.
