Car insurance for teenagers
Teenagers who have just purchased their first car are generally on top of the world, with thoughts flowing through their minds of the new found freedom they are about to enjoy. Then the realization sets in that they will need insurance for their new pride and joy and this tends to put a bit of a dampener on things. The cost of car insurance for teenagers is often triple that of what it would be for someone over the age of 25. Insurance companies place these higher premiums on younger drivers with good reason, as statistically speaking drivers under the age of 25 will cause the most expense due to crashes per person.
Over time the statistics for teenage drivers have actually got worse rather than better and this has lead some of the major insures to refuse cover to teenagers with high risk vehicles. This raises a good point; if you are a teenager looking to by a car, make sure that you will be able to get it insured before you purchase it. This point makes logical sense of course but there are still a large number of male teenagers who will go out and buy a Nissan Skyline for their first car only to find that none of the major companies are willing to insure them.
If you are taking out your very first insurance policy then it is likely that the annual cost will be very high, there will be some companies that are willing to offer car insurance for teens slightly cheaper than others, however for the most it will be expensive. Something that many teenagers will try to do to lower the cost of insurance is to buy the car under their parents name and then have their parents setup the insurance policy under their name with the teenager as a named driver. This is a bad idea. If there is ever a crash and the teenager is driving it is likely that the insurance company will find out that the teenager was the cars main driver and not pay out on the claim.
There are a few ways of reducing the cost of the premium for teenage car insurance over time, you should ask any prospective insurance companies if these factors will reduce your premium:
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Taking and advanced or defensive driving course – often premiums can be reduced if you are able to show that you are a highly competent driver by completing one of these course.
Having an immobiliser fitted to you cars engine – if you are buying a new car which has an immobiliser the likelihood of theft is greatly reduced and so often the premium will be reduced also.
Parking your car in a lockable garage – similar to the immobiliser this greatly reduces the chances of the car being stolen.
Going through a broker – often a broker will be able to get an insurance policy for you cheaper even though the car is insured with the same company.
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