The Best and Cheapest Car Insurance for Teens

The best and cheapest car insurance for teens typically will not be the same plans. It’s often a plan with expansive coverage and low premiums. However, plans with more expansive coverage are often the more expensive plans.

On the other hand, the cheapest car insurance for teens will be a plan with minimal coverage and several discounts applied. Keep reading to discover the best car insurance for teens, the average cost, and who has the cheapest policies.

The best insurance for teenage drivers will be a plan with expansive coverage with low premiums. Teen car insurance will always be expensive, regardless of the type of coverage you choose, but some coverage options are cheaper than others. Be careful, though, because cheap coverage is not always the best coverage.

When shopping for teen car insurance, you will find two coverage options: liability coverage and full coverage.

Liability coverage is the legal minimum amount of coverage you can have in most states. Liability covers the victim in an accident where the policyholder is deemed at fault. Your liability coverage will help pay for vehicle repairs and medical expenses, up to your policy maximum, for the other party in an accident in which the policyholder is at fault.

In short, the policyholder’s expenses are not covered with liability coverage. Liability coverage is almost always the cheapest coverage option.

Full coverage, on the other hand, covers all parties involved in an accident up to your policy maximum. So, since full coverage at least doubles the number of people covered, the premiums are also nearly double the cost of premiums with liability insurance.

So, while liability coverage will give you the cheapest premiums, it may not be the best coverage option for a teen driver. While teens are just beginning to build their driving records and learning the ways of the road, it may be wise to have full coverage while they navigate the first few years of driving. Just to be safe.

Insurance rates for teens average at about $5,000 annually, but the averages range based on age from about $7,200 at age 16 to about $2,100 at age 19 for full coverage policies in the teen’s name. However, insurance premiums are determined by gender, age, the state in which you are insured, and several other factors.

Teens are among the riskiest populations for car insurance providers to insure, thus reflected in their high premiums. The cost is not unfounded, as 9.3% of fatal accidents in 2020 were caused by teenagers, according to the IIHS. Not only do teens have high rates of motor vehicle accidents (both fatal and not), but they are also the most likely to engage in risky behavior behind the wheel, like speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, or using alcohol.

It’s important to note the disparity in these statistics between young men and women. Young men are more likely to engage in these risky behaviors; thus, they are often charged more in car insurance premiums. While some states prohibit the use of gender as a determinant for car insurance premiums, it is used as a major determinant for teen car insurance rates in states where it is permitted.

Car insurance for teenage boys on their own full coverage policies ranges, on average, from $7,700 to $2,500 annually. However, the range is much wider outside of average costs, as 16-year-old males in some states may pay up to $15,500, and 19-year-old males in some states may pay as low as $1,300 yearly. 

In almost every state, it’s more expensive to insure teenage boys than to insure teenage girls. This is because young males are more likely to engage in risky driving behavior than young females. According to the CDC, the death rate in motor vehicle accidents involving young men ages 16 to 19 is over twice as high as the rate for young women of the same age. Thus, teenage boys pay more for car insurance than teenage girls because they are riskier to insure and are more likely to file a claim.

Car insurance for teenage girls on their own full coverage policies ranges, on average, from $6,700 to $2,100 annually. However, the range is much wider outside of average costs, as 16-year-old females in some states may pay up to $13,000, and 19-year-old females in some states may pay as low as $1,300 yearly.

While car insurance costs less for teenage girls than it does for teenage boys, it is still far more expensive than car insurance for young women 20 and older. Young women tend to pay less in car insurance premiums than young men until they enter their late 20s, when car insurance rates are slightly higher for women than for men. However, the difference between insurance rates for men and women is not as disparate in adulthood as they are for teens and new, young drivers.

On average, insurance for teenage drivers is about $500 per month for a full coverage policy in the teen’s name. Generally, car insurance is far more expensive when a teenager has their own policy than when they are added to a parent’s policy. When adding a teenager to a parent’s existing policy, the teen’s insurance costs an average of about $180 per month. That’s a lot of savings!

The cheapest auto insurance for teens will be a policy with the minimum legal amount of liability coverage in your state, with several discounts applied to your premiums. The best way to get cheap car insurance for teens is to shop online for a provider that offers several discounts that cater to new and young drivers.

For example, several car insurance providers offer a good student discount. To be eligible for this discount, in most cases, you must be enrolled as a full-time student and receive at least a 3.0 GPA. The discounts range depending on the provider, but some may discount your premiums up to 25%.

Some insurance providers offer safe driving training programs for new or young drivers. Upon completing the program, you may receive a discount of up to 15% off your premiums, depending on your provider.

Many insurance providers offer a multi-car discount, which would apply automatically to teens who are added to a parent’s existing policy. This discount may take $150 off your premiums annually.

When combined with other discounts unique to your provider added to your policy, you may receive savings up to 50% off your auto insurance for teens.

Geico, Progressive, and State Farm have some of the cheapest average car insurance rates for teenagers. They have low premiums for new or young drivers, but each provider also offers discounts for young people, students, and new drivers. Teen auto insurance is expensive, so make sure when you are comparing quotes online that you get a quote from one of these major players in car insurance for teens.

Shopping around online is one of the best ways to get cheap car insurance for teens. Here at Clovered, we have a free quoting tool you can use by submitting your information online through this form. Once you submit your form, one of our agents will contact you to discuss the best policy for you.

You can also contact us directly by calling us at 833-255-4117, or you can send us an email at [email protected] with any questions you have regarding the best or cheapest car insurance for teens.