Elephant Auto Insurance Shares the Top 5 Tips for Saving Money on Your Teen's Auto Insurance Policy

Richmond, MD, July 19, 2012 --(PR.com)-- So your teen is ready to drive, and your anxiety is completely understandable. Car insurance for teen drivers can be very expensive due to their inexperience behind the wheel and their high accident rates. The reality is that teen drivers are more likely to underestimate the severity of a situation, not accurately identify hazardous situations, and even more dangerous, not wear their seat belt.

How can you lower the cost of your insurance premium? Although it is difficult to avoid the costs related to adding your teen driver to your auto insurance, Elephant Auto Insurance has compiled a list of tips to help save you money:

Call your insurance company
When the time comes to add your teen driver to your insurance you should first call your company and notify them of the additional driver, as well as discuss the options now available to you and any additional discounts.

Make sure they do well in school
Many insurance companies believe that good students have a more positive risk profile as they get older and prefer to have them as long-term customers, and will give a discount to reinforce their positive habits. Talking to your teen and motivating them to do well in school will have, in most cases, an additional benefit of lower insurance premiums.

Decide which car they will drive
If you have multiple cars you should consider which car or cars you allow your teen to drive. Newer vehicles typically cost more to insure due to the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP). In addition, the costs related to repairs for a new car are on average greater than those on an older car, and if the car is being financed the lien holder will normally require more coverage on the car. To save money, you can restrict your teen driver to the car that costs the least to insure, but check with your provider to see if this is something they allow.

Pay less if they are away at school
If permitted by your insurance company, you may be eligible for a distant student discount for teens that are over 100 miles away at college. The key with this discount is to ensure that your teen driver would still have coverage if they borrowed a friend’s car while at school. A gap in their coverage will affect them in the long run.

Communicate and Educate
Most importantly, communicate with your teen driver. You should tell them how much their insurance costs so that they can understand fully the responsibilities they have as a driver. Start your quote at Elephant.com now to see what discounts are available to you and your teen.

It is inevitable that at some point your child will be ready to get behind the wheel of a car. Instead of trying to prevent this event from taking place encourage your teen to increase their awareness when behind the wheel, create safe driving habits, and when the time comes to insure them, simply use the tips above that Elephant Insurance suggests. The herd is here to help prepare you and your family, as well as save you money.

If you have any questions or to get a quote go to elephant website, or call an Elephant Agent today, 1-877-21-TRUNK (87865)