Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Cheap Auto Insurance And Teenagers

By Chimezirim Odimba

Under-25 drivers get higher rates than any other age group. Worse still, if they are teenagers their auto insurance rates could be really high.

Therefore, as much as possible, do not place such a driver on your own policy. It will have an adverse effect on your rate. You can discuss with your agent about signing an exclusion form so that your teen driver can have his/her own auto policy.

Let your teen bear the responsibility of paying for their auto insurance. An addition argument in favor of this is that your teen will be more willing to take measures to reduce what he or she pays. This by extension means that such a teen driver will be more responsible behind wheels since they bear the full cost of their actions.

1. Under-25 drivers are give really high rates. If you belong to this age range you can get lower rates if you keep getting good grades at school.

The good student discount is for students who get A's or a minimum of B's. For young drivers who meet this eligibility requirement, you can get discounts of about five percent. This discount is given because insurers think there is a connection between good grades and a young person's composure while driving. Young drivers with good grades are generally seen as more responsible and less likely to take to reckless driving.

2. Stay claims-free for more than three years and most insurers will give you a special discount. Here's a tip: Even though you might have cause to make a claim, don't if they are minor issues. Handling little fixes on your own will help you save more as you'll get a big discount.

3. As an under 25, you can pay cheaper car insurance rates if you use your parents' policy. The fact that you're of driving age means that your parents belong to a better risk age bracket.

There are two conditions that you must fulfill to make this possible: The car must be registered in your parents' name and you must live with them. This means that by law they own the vehicle. If the benefits of "independence" outweigh your auto insurance savings then this is definitely not an option for you.

4. Take part in a defensive driving class. Apart from the fact that this will help lower your rate, it will help keep you and others safer.

5. You will save a lot if you can shop around and do thorough comparison. The the difference in quotes returned per query could be as wide as $1,000 for a given person. Notwithstanding that this is a good thing, it's important that you don't get too excited yet. It's not usually that straightforward if you want the best price to value ratio.

The lowest quote may not represent you the best price/value. Despite the fact that each of the quotes returned will definitely give you the same basic coverage, there may be a number of differences in the details of each insurer's coverage. This makes it crucial that you find out if there aren't any exclusions you won't like.

Don't forget to treat these no-obligation quotes as their name implies. Don't feel you have to pay until you've got all your questions answered to your satisfaction. You will never get rude shocks later if you do this. - 15224

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