After two years of saving, you are finally going to buy your first car! So it’s a little old (Dave’s grandmothers giving you a great deal), and a little rusty, and you are pretty sure its not supposed to make that odd popping sound every time you stop, but it’s FINALLY yours next month. The only hurdle left to jump is getting car insurance.
By now you have probably called around to a few places and got a few quotes, but they all seem a little high. Well I have good news for you, there are four things a teen driver can do to lower their insurance rates.
- Drivers Education Classes– Driver education classes focus on learning driving skills in a class with other teen drivers. They have both practical and hands on lessons. Usually the student is required to have several classes learning the rules and law of driving and then given a certain amount of hours on the road with an instructor. Most insurance companies will give you a 10-15% discount on your insurance if you have taken one of these courses so make sure you mention it when you are getting your quote.
- Defensive Driving Class– The defensive driving class is about 5-6 hours long and can be done online or in a school setting. Its purpose to extend the knowledge that you already learned in Drivers Ed for safe driving. Usually you will be given a 10% discount on your premium for taking this course.
- Good Student Discount– If you have grades above 80% in school you may qualify for a discount on your car insurance. Insurance companies vary in the discounts but you should get between 10-15% off your premium.
- Company Specific Home Study Discounts– Some of the major insurance companies have a home study course you can take on safe driving. If your insurance company does offer one, make sure you take it. They will give you another 10-20%.
I don’t know if you have been doing the math on this, but if you add up the discounts for having all four of these tips you can save 40-60% on your insurance premium this year! That is a significant amount to save, and maybe, just maybe you will be able to get that new spoiler for the car earlier that you thought.
