How to lower insurance costs for teen drivers

Back to school time can mean a lot of things for your family. Back to routines, clubs, sports, homework - so much to do! My kids are still pretty young with my oldest just starting first grade this year and the next in line will start preschool soon. I've got a long time in calendar years to plan but as I hear and have seen so far - time flies with kiddos so the dreaded day the kids get behind the wheel will be here before I know it!

"Only 10 years until I can drive!"

At the agency we're frequently asked when it comes time to add a new teen driver how to keep the cost down. Here are a few ways that can help lessen the impact on the budget:

1. Add them to your policy as soon as they become licensed. They could purchase their own policy if they own their own car but if they can be added to the household it will help them get multi-car/multi-policy discounts, longevity, and credit discounts.

2. Teach your teen safety. Teach your teen to always wear a seatbelt; stay away from the distractions such as switching through music, talking or texting, eating, smoking or putting on make up. They need to be an aware and defensive driver. The more supervised driving your teen does, the more they'll be prepared for driving alone.

3. Don't buy the flashy sports car. The car your teen drives will factor into the price of insurance. An older, reliable, small to mid-size car is usually the least expensive to insure and fix. If you have a few makes and models in mind, your agent should be able to quote them and see what would make the most sense. Even if you don't plan on adding a car to your policy or buying something for them to driver regularly though, they still need to be listed on your policy as an occasional/possible driver. This could be a lower way to cover them, especially if you have a vehicle that doesn't require physical damage coverage that they will be driving.

4. Good grades matter. Academic performance's impact on rates is a great way to save money and encourage good grades. An "A/B" average can save up to 30% depending on the insurance company. It doesn't hurt when making those graduation goals for college either!

5. Education pays off. If your teen goes above and beyond the training required by the state and attends a defensive driving course, there could be additional discounts on the insurance policy as well. Of course there is additional cost for the training but ultimately it's worth your teen's safety!

Those are some of the ways to save, a few other things that can help you as you train your safe teen driver would be to check out some of the new programs available through the insurance companies offering monitoring devices which would be installed in the vehicle. These devices all work differently but they can track safe driving, notify you of excessive speeds or reckless driving, so you can use it as a tool to help teach them safer habits. Some of the devices can even monitor where the teen is driving and when which may really help them make good choices if they know you will know everywhere they've been!

Besides these ways to save money, we know safety is the top concern for you as a parent of a new teen driver - see below for a fact sheet on Driving Distractions (good for anyone to review - not just teens):