Are You Scared Out Of Your Be-Jeebers About Your Teen Driving Soon?

It seems just like yesterday when they were bouncing on your lap eating Gerber smashed peas...and now the time is fast approaching when they will be asking you for the car keys. The only thing that stands between them and the family steering wheel right now is the lack of a legal drivers license....but thats' just a matter of time. The very thought seems to generate within you the same anticipation for say, a root canal appointment. You've seen little reminders for some time now, like that bold crimson Sharpie-marker circle drawn twelve times  around their 16th-birthday on the kitchen calendar. Can't help but see it each time you rifle through the fridge for a snack. It's one of those sights that stops you cold, arresting your otherwise happy thoughts with taser-like reality. It is the year of their vaunted new-found independence...a coming of age if you will. But for you the parent, cold sweats and rapid heart beats at the thought of your sky-rocketing insurance rates, or worse yet haunting congerd images of your teen wrapping themselves, along with the family car around an old oak tree off some lonely rural route at 2am on a cold, dark foggy Sunday morning.

Would it help to tell you that your worries are not new? Not a chance! To really put your mind at ease I would have to tell you that your son or daughter will soon be picked up by some covert government agency and placed in a friendly cell for the next five years. Just hearing the word "friendly", you ask no questions. Or maybe this: you know that movie "2012"? Maybe they could just bump that up a couple of years? Problem solved. You've tried to think of creative ways to put this day off but the political forces arrayed against you in your house are just too strong. The anticipation of your teen along with your spouse who can't see a thing wrong with the idea, and then pile on "All my friends are getting their drivers licenses this year!!" You're done. It's over. Just shoot me.

 No, I am not a family counselor but I am an insurance agent and the reason I paint this vivid picture is to give you some idea of what to expect on the insurance side of things when all of this comes down. Simply put, when you add your teen to your insurance policy your rates will go up. Period. But the decisions you are soon to make will determine how much they go up.  The first thing you need to do before you say "Yes" to your teen getting their drivers license is call your insurance agent. If you have a good agent, he or she should be happy to spend a few minutes  with you to explain how adding your teen to your policy will affect your rates. Auto insurance policies vary, thus the impact of adding a teen driver will also vary. Here are some things to ask your agent...

1.  Would the increase in my insurance rate be solely based on the car they are assigned to, or would the rate be "spread out" over the entire household?
2. Would my rates be better if my teen were assigned to his/her own vehicle, or assigned part-time to one of the parent driven vehicles?
3. Should I get an older car for my teen driver which does not need comprehensive and collision coverage?

Generally speaking, as long as your child lives with you it will be significantly less expensive when your son or daughter is included in the family policy with the parents rather than purchasing a "stand-alone" policy for them.

Just one more golden nugget to cement into your cerebellum is this: Good grades=good insurance rates. Good grades=good insurance rates. Good grades=good insurance rates. Oh, and did I mention it would be a good idea for your teen driver to study hard and get good grades at school? When they get good grades (usually 3.0 average or better), you will not only pay much less for insurance, but they will also be building a great foundation for their educational future at some fine college institution.

Some of my clients have even told me about the "deals" they've struck with their teen, linking their school grades to how much access they will have to the family vehicle...if any. Of course not being a family counselor, I am not in a position to recommend anything like that.