Its either the day you’ve been dreaming of…or the day you’ve been dreading since they were born. Your teenager is finally ready to get behind the wheel of a car and drive off into the sunset without you. Yep that’s right, your teenager officially has their drivers license and is free to cruise the roads. Scary, huh?

And of course you now have to worry about insuring your newly-licensed teen driver. Just the thought of this strikes fear into most parents’ hearts. Adding your teenage driver to your insurance policy will raise your rates, but there are ways to control how steep the rates become.

Most insurance policies will require that all licensed family members in your household be included in your policy, even if some people won’t be driving much. If you do not plan on adding a new vehicle to your policy, it is recommended that you include your new driver as a primary driver on at least one of your vehicles, listed on your policy.

Avoiding older, riskier vehicles is one way to keep your rates low. Encouraging your teen to bring home good grades can make them eligible for a “good student” discount, typically around 10-15%. Teens can do their part and enroll in a driver’s education course or driver training to ensure they know the rules of the road, and many insurance companies provide a discount for their efforts. And of course, avoiding accidents and traffic violations will help keep your rates as low as possible.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, teen drivers have 3 times as many car accidents per mile as drivers 20 and older. Talk to your teen about safe driving before they get behind the wheel. New drivers have many more distractions to deal with these days with cell phones and more complicated technology in cars themselves.  Prepare your driver for the road and get ahead by adding your soon-to-be driver on your policy.  

If you have questions about adding your new teen driver to your policy with Whedbee, we’d love to talk to you.