Teen Drivers
If you have a teenage driver, you know how how unnerving it can be when they’re out on the road with their friends, probably because you remember how you drove as a teenager. Even if your child is a straight-A student and a model citizen, they simply don’t have the years of experience behind the wheel that adults have and often make poor choices on the road, especially when they’re with their friends.
When they’re out having fun, teenage drivers easily forget about the repercussions of careless driving and irresponsible behavior behind the wheel. Simple violations can increase auto insurance premiums and often parents are saddled with that financial burden. There is a reason teenagers cost more to insure and unfortunately, as a group, they are among the most dangerous on the road racking up tickets and accidents at rates several times the average driver.
A young adult needs to make sure proper levels of auto insurance coverage are in place. If the young adult is an aggressive driver, Comprehensive and Collision coverages should be standard. When parents compare rates, understanding levels of coverage is important. If a young adult is under-insured and gets into an accident, parents will have to cover excess expenses that the Florida car insurance does not. A loan to pay for the other driver’s vehicle repairs and medical bills is one way to pay for expenses when they are above and beyond your coverage choices.
Florida Auto Insurance for Teen Drivers
Keeping Them Safe
If your young driver is properly insured, an unforeseen event or accident will not cause your family heartache and financial hardships. Adding a teen driver to your car insurance policy will raise your rates. But you can control how much they’ll climb. For example, having your teen drive a Camry rather than a Corvette can have a major impact on your Florida car insurance rates. Also, encouraging your teen to bring home straight As on their report card and keep their driving records clean can also help with the cost.
The potential for accidents is high and when that occurs in the primary vehicle, it affects the whole family who relies on that car for everything from grocery shopping to Dr.’s visits. Finally, teens are involved in far too many fatal accidents which some families never quite recover from.
Yes, Your Teen Must Have Car Insurance
Virtually every insurer will require that all licensed family members in a household be included on your policy, whether they drive your cars or not. You should let us know as soon as your child gets their learner’s permit, but typically they won’t be listed (or your policy charged) until he or she is licensed. The only way to avoid paying the premium for a teenage driver on your own car is a named exclusion. Through an endorsement to your policy, you and your insurer agree that the driver is not covered. Any claim caused by that driver isn’t covered, either.
Your teen could insure his or her own car, but state laws governing teen ownership of cars differ widely. In general, a minor cannot own property or sign contracts, such as an insurance agreement, without a parent’s consent and signature. It is almost always cheaper to add teenagers to an existing policy than to exclude them, and then buy an additional car and insure that as well. If your household has several cars, it can help to have your new driver assigned to a specific one – the one that’s cheapest to insure.
As with adults, the cleaner the driving record, the lower the insurance costs. If your teen is old enough to head off to college, lives more than 100 miles from home and doesn’t have a car, you’re also likely to get a break on your auto insurance. That’s because the teen isn’t a regular operator of the vehicle, but still can drive it when he or she comes home on break. Finally, a teenager doesn’t have to drive. Bicycles and bus passes are cheaer if you live in a place where that’s feasible.
At Brown Insurance Services, we know how important it is to you to keep your kids safe. Many of our Florida auto insurance policies provide discounts for students with good grades and we’ve created a Teen Driver Contract for you to review with your teen drivers. By signing the contract, your teen driver is committing to driving safe. This includes following the rules of the road while leaving their cell phones in their backpacks and handbags. It also requires that your teen driver does not drink or take any other substance while driving and that these items do not belong in the car at all. The contract also describes the consequences that teens will face if they should receive a ticket including financial responsibility for any increase in auto insurance premiums. Finally, a provision is made for maintaining their vehicle from regular maintenance to addressing mechanical issues right away.
By signing this contract, your teen is committed to being a responsible, safe driver, and you are committed to providing your child with the information they need to succeed behind the wheel. Contact us for more information about Florida auto insurance for your teen driver.
