California Teen Driver
Teenagers have two primary areas against them when looking for car insurance in the State of California. The first problem is insurance companies have little or no data to review on your driving record. The second challenge is the statistical data available shows teenagers have a much greater chance to get an in accident. With this, Car insurance companies judge teenagers as a high risk and this gets reflected in higher car insurance premiums.
If you are a teenager, what are the things you can do get the lowest pricing possible?
- Select an inexpensive, safe car to drive – Premiums will correlate to the value of the car you drive. Newer, more expensive cars will cost much more to insure. In addition, spots cars, like a Ford Mustang will cost more than a more economical car, like a Ford Focus.
- Good grades – Many California car insurance companies will offer discounts to teens carrying a grade point average higher than a 3.0. They will also provide discounts for taking defensive driver courses.
- Limit Coverage – If you are driving a lower value car, look to raise or eliminate your comprehensive and collision coverage.
- Maintain a clean driving record. The worst thing you can do is get a traffic violation, maintaining a clean driving record is critical. All teenagers should have a goal of maintaining a clean driving record for 3 years in order to get the good driver discount in California, as outlined by Proposition 103.
Once you are ready to get California car insurance, what should you do? The best way to save money is shop around. Teenagers in California, in most cases, will not qualify as a good driver, as a good driver in California requires 3 years of driving experience. Since teenagers fall out of the Good driver status, they are considered high risk drivers in California. Per proposition 103, California Car Insurance Companies are not required to provide coverage to high risk drivers. California has an abundance of car insurance companies, some more ready to take on a teen driver. The only way to find the best quote is to shop around with the Best California car insurance companies. The leaders in the California high risk, or non-standard market, are Infinity, Geico and Progressive. It makes sense to look at what your rates would be if added to your parents policy and also to look at how much your rates would be if you carry a stand-alone policy.
