Did you know that for Arvada and Denver metro residents adding a teenage driver to your auto insurance policy can cause your premiums to jump anywhere from 50 to 100 percent?

Teenage drivers have a disproportionately high amount of traffic accidents and tickets.  In fact, auto accidents are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 15 to 19.

Thankfully, there are teenage driver discounts available to help you save on your premiums.  This post is dedicated to top 5 premium discounts available to the parents of teenage drivers.

Discount #1: Good Student Discount
Most insurance companies will provide discounts for your student good grades.  The requirements vary, but basically if your child is able to achieve inclusion on the dean’s list or honor roll you may qualify for premium discounts anywhere from 15 to 35 percent.

Discount #2: Defensive Driving Course
Knowing that teenage drivers are at a much higher risk to be involved in an accident, many insurance companies are now either offering their own defensive driving classes or coupons that give you admission into a local class.   These classes have proven to improve teens’ driving, and they will also qualify you for an additional 5 to 15 percent discount on your premiums.

Discount #3: Distant Student Discount
If you have a child who has moved away from home to go to school, then you may be eligible for another discount on your premiums.   Some insurance companies will decrease your auto insurance premiums if your child has moved a certain distance away from home (usually 100 miles) and is attending school without his or her own vehicle.

While the discount is nice, we recommending working with your agent to review the details of this discount.   Some insurance companies will actually remove and exclude your child from the policy, which can create a serious risk if they temporarily come home and use one of the vehicles in the house.

Discount #4: Driving an Older Vehicle
Buying your child a used vehicle will typically result in lower premiums than new vehicle.   In evaluating a vehicle for your child, it’s also important to pay attention to the safety features provided by the vehicle.   While the older vehicle have cost less to insure, a slightly newer vehicle may come with safety features that will do a better job of protecting your child in the event of an accident.

Discount #5: Take Advantage of Technology
One of the ways that insurance companies are helping keep teen drivers safe is by providing electronic devices that actually monitor their driving habits.   For some companies it is a device that is installed on the dashboard while for others it is simply installed into the power outlet in the vehicle.

The device then monitors the drivers habits and creates a report that families can monitor.  The report will typically show how many miles the car is driven, how fast it’s driven, and how often the brakes are applied hard.

For drivers that drive safely with the monitoring device, they can qualify up to an additional 30 percent discount in their premiums.

If you would like to find out more about how these discounts can help save money on your teen drivers please feel free to give our office a call.