August 7, 2010

Why It Is Expensive To Insure A Teen On Your Policy

If you have a teenage driver, you probably have a lot on your mind — but getting a good auto insurance quote shouldn’t be a major burden. Traditionally auto insurance quotes for teenagers are quite high, so many parents may consider adding their teen driver to their own policy as a way to save money. But the fact is that adding a teenager to your own insurance policy may be just as expensive, if not more expensive, than insuring your teenager under their own policy.

There are several reasons adding your teenager to your insurance policy might be more expensive than finding them an auto insurance quote. For example, many auto insurers use statistics to formulate their auto insurance quotes for younger drivers, and statistics are not in favor of younger drivers. Statistics demonstrate that drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are the most likely age group to be in a vehicular accident. The cost of injuries in accidents is also high for teen drivers. Estimates state that young drivers may account for as much as 30% of the cost of injuries to men and 28% of the cost of injuries for women. Per mile, teenager drivers are four times more likely to be in an accident than any other age group.

Higher levels of risk taking behavior may account for why teenagers tend to be in more accidents than other age groups — a main reason for why they are expensive to insure on your own policy. Many teenagers have yet to develop the ability to asses risky situations properly, usually downplaying the amount of risk to themselves and others, even in a driving situation. Therefore, a teenager is a likelier to make a poor judgment call that results in an accident, like going ahead and making a left-hand turn in front of an oncoming car that is approaching them faster than they had anticipated. This kind of poor judgment results in more accidents than other groups of drivers.

Teen drivers are also less likely to engage in safety measures than other age groups, making them an expensive prospect to add to your insurance policy. Auto insurance quotes take this into account in their estimation of insurance rates. Teen drivers are less likely to use seat belts, for instance, causing a higher rate of injury when they are in accidents. This can drive the rate of an auto insurance quote up dramatically.

Your teenage driver can run auto insurance prices up for the whole family, especially if you add him or her to your own policy. Consider researching getting your teenager their own policy in order to save on insurance.