Everything You Need to Know About Insuring Your Teenage Driver

This is almost always going to be a resounding "yes," but we aren't here to discuss loopholes in the law. We highly recommend that once your teen has a driver's license you sign him or her up for car insurance.

Not listing a teenager driver on your insurance policy can have steep consequences. If your teen were to be involved in an accident without insurance, your insurance company may refuse to extend its coverage to that driver.

Most insurance companies and states do not require teens to be insured until they have a driver's license. If your teen only has a learner's permit, odds are you don't need to do anything yet (though it doesn't hurt to start preparing now if this is the case!).

It never hurts to let your company know when your teen has a learner's permit either. In fact, some insurance companies will add your teen onto your insurance policy as soon as he or she turns 16 regardless of whether your teen is even licensed yet. For this reason and because your teen will be behind the wheel when he or she has a permit, it's good to keep your insurance company informed.

When it comes to insuring your teenage driver, you have three options: have the teen sign up for a new policy, add the teen to your current policy, or add the teen to your policy but list him or her as excluded. Let's break each of these down so you have a better idea about which one works best for your family.

Generally, insurance companies will offer a discount if your teenager maintains a GPA of 3.0 or higher. This means if your student is averaging a B grade in high school or college you can get a five to ten percent discount, though this number will go up and down depending on which company you use.

Though most states require teenagers to take a driver education course, even if they don't you can still get a hefty discount by having your teen complete one. As always, you will want to check with your insurance company directly to see if this is possible in your state and how much of a discount you can receive.

Yes! Teens aren't the only ones who get a discount for taking a course. Parents and teens can may also receive an insurance discount for completing a driver improvement course, which are frequently called defensive driving courses. Again, check with your insurance company before you sign up for anything. This is worth investigating because it's an easy discount you can control.

When it comes to buying a car for your teen there are a lot of factors to consider. One of the most prominent is how significantly this choice affects your insurance costs. Older cars with less added features and more miles will usually cost less to insure than new, souped-up models. However, certain safety features, like anti-lock brakes (ABS), are often considered standard and a car without them could have a higher insurance cost. The overall safety rating of a car will also factor into the price, and cars with better safety ratings will cost less to insure.

Remember that insurance is calculated by risk. If the insurance company thinks a car is high risk, the cost to insure it will rise. So even if the car has a lot if safety features, it can be pricey because those safety features increase the value of the car and in turn create more risk for the company.

As always, check with your insurance company to see how car choice will affect the cost for your teen driver. If you want to learn more about buying a first car for your teen, Every Parent's Go-to Guide to Buying Their Teen's First Car.

If you increase your deductible after adding a teenage driver, this may help you decrease your premium overall. This does mean you'll have to pay more should an accident occur, but if no one gets in an accident — which is what we all are hoping for — you'll end up paying less.

Just like your deductible, lowering comprehensive and collision coverage can help lower the overall cost of your car insurance. It does afford you less protection, however.

This applies for everyone who is on the policy. Having a clean driving record will help keep your costs down, and it will help you keep a good driver's discount. Though teen drivers have no driving records and cannot prove they are safe drivers, which is partly why they cost so much to insure, they can start building one. Over time, as they don't get traffic violations or cause accidents, they will garner more trust and their car insurance rates will go down.

Chances are, if your teen gets a ticket or a traffic violation, your premiums will increase if this happens. This is why another way to keep your rates low is to avoid traffic tickets. This is obviously done through safe driving and obeying the law.

If your teen will not be using a car that often, be sure to list him or her as an occasional or pleasure driver. This will keep your rates lower.

If you have several cars attached to a single policy, most insurance companies will give you a discount. Be sure to ask about it when you're adding your teen to your insurance policy.

If you can, bundle your home insurance with your car insurance. This will help lower your rates once you've added a teen driver to the plan.

You may be eligible for a loyalty discount if you haven't been bouncing between car insurance companies. However, we always advise that while you ask about this, you should still shop around. Other companies may be able to offer a lower rate even without this discount.

If you pay for your premium in full, you might be able to lower your car insurance. As always, ask your insurance company to find out.

While insuring a teenager driver is expensive, there are a lot of ways to reduce that cost. Remember to explore all your options and to do your research before signing your teen up for a policy or adding them to one.