Teen drivers and insurance

[thedigitalone]

16yr old girl, good grades, we have a great driving history and USAA multi-policy discounts.

Old 6-month auto policy $900.30
Add-a-teenager new rate $1,734.54 (+$834.24)

She's costing just shy as much as both adult drivers, from what I hear teenage boys are much larger impact, yikes!

[GizmoTX]

Things you can do to earn discounts, which of course depends on your insurance carrier:

Drivers safety course (this must be repeated periodically)
Good grades discount (this requires an A-B average & periodic transcript submission)
Teen associated with oldest vehicle (note-most policies allow all drivers to drive all vehicles)

And of course, NO violations or accidents. Too many teens actually believe this is part of learning to drive.

We enrolled DS in a defensive driving course on a race track after he earned his license; this included preventing rollovers in a SUV or pickup truck. Money very well spent.

[Sibley]

Are they listed as occasional drivers vs regular? Would be cheaper if it's an option (probably state specific though).

Also, totally fair to expect said teen to contribute in some way. I ran all sorts of errands for my parents, helped shuttled my sister around, etc. I had friends who had to contribute some (or all) of the money for their insurance.

[mxt0133]

Not much getting around it, teenagers are just a statistical nightmare in terms of auto accidents. When I turned 17 and got my license I immediately had to surrender it because my parents could not afford the increase in their auto insurance premium.  It sucked but I myself couldn't to pay the premiums and I didn't even have a car, it was just because they had to list me a licensed driver in the household. 

A year later I saved for a car and was able to get my own insurance.

I wish my parents would have given me the heads up then I wouldn't have been so excited to get my license in the first place, but I don't think they knew.  Which is weird because my brother got a license and a new car to boot.  I will definitely set the expectations for my kids earlier, however I am really hoping by the time they are of age to get licenses, it won't be seen as a significant right of passage into independence with car sharing and self-driving cars.

[cacaoheart]

It may have changed/be different in each state but when I was that age ~15 years ago in NC it seemed the cheapest way to go was to get your permit at 15 and then wait until 18 to get your license. That way you're an experienced driver before being a licensed driver. If you're in an area where driving isn't needed on a daily basis this might work fine.

Having cheap vehicles with just liability coverage also helps keep costs down.

[thedigitalone]

Are they listed as occasional drivers vs regular? Would be cheaper if it's an option (probably state specific though).

Also, totally fair to expect said teen to contribute in some way. I ran all sorts of errands for my parents, helped shuttled my sister around, etc. I had friends who had to contribute some (or all) of the money for their insurance.

That's a good point, I think we can designate the amount of driving expected, I'll log in tonight and check.

She's already been tasked with a couple of family errands in the week she's had the license, she's still in the "Wow, I can drive" stage so it's fun, I think that'll wear off pretty quick.