Reader question:
How can I possibly afford putting my teen on my car insurance policy (cheaply)?
Daniel
Calm down and take a seat.
Take a deep breath, too. It’ll help. First we have to face the awful truth: adding your teenage to your car insurance policy is going to cost you a lot, no matter what you do, and no matter how great of a kid they are. They could drive at ten miles an hour on deserted roads in a forcefield, and you would still be paying twice to three times as much on your premium as you were paying before. This is a fact of the insurance business, and it’s not a nice one, but there it is. Just because you’ll be paying more, though, doesn’t mean you need to despair. There are some ways you can take the edge off of the pain.
- Check their report card. Is your kid making good grades? No, I’m not talking about ‘passing’. If your teen has a B average or better, most car insurance companies will give them a discount for being a good student. Ask your car insurance company if they offer a good student discount and what the requirements are.
- Is your kid college age? Ship ’em out! You’ll get a big discount on car insurance if you have a kid that lives more than one hundred miles away whose name is on your policy.
- Check your insurance company’s policies. Got a nice car yourself? Some companies will charge you as if your kid were the main driver for the most expensive car in your garage, even if he would get ground for the rest of his life for even thinking about touching the keys. If you’re with a car insurance company like this, it may be time for you to change providers.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.