How to Add a Teen's Car to Your Insurance

You've been your high schooler's taxi driver for a few years now, but now that she has her license, she's taking your car and leaving you stranded. Maybe it's time to think about buying her her own car, but how will that affect your car insurance?

It's a scary thought, especially since the average cost of car insurance in 2014, according to the website ValuePenguin1, was $907. And insurance for teens can be a lot more expensive. On average, insurance for an 18-year-old costs $6,456 a year2, but your teen may get a different rate. (And if you insure your teen on your policy, you've already taken a hit, so you're just adding another car and making your teen the driver.) Here are some things you should think about:

What kind of car do you want to buy? Even though it's a personal choice with many factors to think about, you might want to think about how your choice will affect your car insurance rates. If you buy a car like a hybrid that is expensive to fix after an accident, you may have to pay more. But if you decide you want to buy a hybrid car, check to see if there is a discount for hybrids. Before you buy a car, you should also check with your insurance company to make sure that it won't cost you an arm and a leg to insure it because it's known for being hard to fix.

What would you do with it? Make sure your insurance company knows if the extra car would mostly be used for a short trip to school or for occasional use. You might get a discount if you don't drive a lot or have a long commute to work.

Have you put all of your insurance plans together? When you bundle your insurance, you buy more than one kind from the same company. So, if you can, you could get insurance for both your home and your car from the same company, and that company will usually give you a discount on one or both policies. If you want to add a third car and don't have any other policies with your car insurance company, it's a good idea to get quotes.

Do you have any more quotes? In general, insuring three cars with the same company will cost less than insuring them with three different companies. However, if you have a teen driver, this is not always the case. If adding a third car with your teen as the main driver is too expensive, look over your coverage to make sure it gives you the best value.

Would your teenager go to school? Depending on your insurance, you might get a small discount if your new driver takes a driver training or defensive driving course. Depending on your state, he or she might be able to do this online. In fact, if all the drivers in the house take the defensive driving course, you may get an even bigger discount. Ask your insurance company how that could help you.

There are also places where students can get good deals. If your teen gets good grades in school, he or she may also be eligible for a discount.

With so much competition between insurance companies, your family can get the best car insurance policy for your budget and safety by asking about all of these options. Think about how much more freedom you'll have once your teen stops taking your car.

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