Cheap Pennsylvania Auto Insurance Doesn't Have to Be a Myth Just Because You've Got a Teen Driver

Cheap Pennsylvania Auto Insurance Doesn't Have to Be a Myth Just Because You've Got a Teen Driver

If you've got a teen driver in the house you already know nothing kills your car insurance rates like handing your 16 year old the keys to the car. You don't have to sacrifice your savings account on the altar of your auto insurance just because your teen is hitting the highways, however. Most Pennsylvania auto insurance providers take pity on parents of teenagers, which means cheap auto insurance might not be as far away as you think.

Even if your teen driver did repo the family sedan.

It's a simple fact that motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens (or so the statistics gathered by the CDC tell us). Even though teens make up less than 20% of the U.S. population they're responsible for over $26 billion in insurance claims every year. That risk rises for newly licensed teens, teens cruising the Pennsylvania turnpike with friends in tow and teenage boys testing out the power behind their new set of wheels.

Since Pennsylvania auto insurance companies have to balance the claims they pay out each year with the premiums they take in they're going to charge you a higher rate to insure your teen. After all, there's a good chance you'll be filing an insurance claim of one type or another before they graduate from college! The good news is that auto insurance companies recognize the fact that not all teens are a disaster waiting to happen. That's why they're offering some discounts designed just for your young driver.

First and foremost, how are your teen's grades? Your Pennsylvania auto insurance provider checked your credit score before issuing you a policy in the first place to find out how responsible you are when you're not behind the wheel. Since your teen probably doesn't have a credit score yet (or if they do they probably don't have enough credit to work in their favor) your insurance company is going to take a look at their school performance. Better grades equals better auto insurance rates, so now would be a great time to put some pressure on your teen to hit the books.

Most teens aren't logging hundreds of miles every week before they go off to college, so your new driver will probably be able to take advantage of your auto insurance company's low mileage rates. If you can afford to plunk down a cool grand or two for a secondhand car you could dedicate solely to your teenage driver you'd be able to enjoy much cheaper auto insurance than you will letting them have free reign on your favorite Porsche, since your insurer isn't going to have to drop $100,000 or more to replace it if it gets totaled for one reason or another.

Finally, let's talk coverage levels. Many parents choose to put minimum liability on their teen's car to keep the cost of their insurance down, which isn't a bad idea in and of itself but does leave the door wide open to having to share with your teen until they can scrape up the money for another vehicle. Most parents who don't want to have to carpool with a pounding bass addiction in a teenager's body find it's a much better idea to put low levels of comprehensive and collision on the car along with their liability to head off disaster the first time they overshoot and park on the curb rather than next to it. (You can admit it-we've all done it once or twice.)

Long story short, cheap Pennsylvania auto insurance isn't quite the myth many parents with teenage drivers think it is. You're going to have enough left over for that prom dress (or tux) after all.

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