How Much Is Car Insurance for a 17-Year-Old?

At 17, some young drivers have had a year of experience, but they’re still inexperienced drivers as far as insurance companies are concerned. You may see this year of experience reflected in a lower car insurance rate, but car insurance for a 17-year-old driver is still much higher than the average rate.

Teenage drivers are among the riskiest populations to insure, so the risk your insurance provider is taking by insuring a 17-year-old driver is reflected in their higher-than-average premiums. Keep reading to find out how to get the best car insurance for 17-year-olds, how much it costs, and how to get the cheapest policy.

On average, car insurance for a 17-year-old driver on their own full coverage policy is about $5,900. This is a significant drop from the national average cost of car insurance for a 16-year-old, which is $7,200. The cost to insure a 17-year-old driver ranges from $1,400 to $10,500, depending on your state.

When determining your premium, car insurance providers consider your age, gender, where you live, what kind of car you drive, and several other factors. Any combination of these factors can increase or decrease what you pay in premiums compared to the national average.

For 17-year-old drivers, the most important factor car insurance providers consider is gender. While car insurance providers are prohibited from using gender to determine premium costs in some states, this practice is permitted in others. In states where gender is a viable factor in determining car insurance rates for 17-year-olds, it does make a difference in how much you pay on your premiums.

The average cost of car insurance for a 17-year-old male on his own full coverage policy is $6,300 annually. However, the cost ranges from $1,400 to $10,500, depending on the state in which you’re insured.

These prices represent 17-year-old boys who take out their own full coverage car insurance policies. If you’re a parent looking to insure your 17-year-old boy, it is significantly cheaper to add them to your existing auto insurance policy.

The cost to insure 17-year-old males is higher than that of females of the same age group because men are more likely to engage in riskier activities while behind the wheel. According to the IIHS, young men are more likely to speed, not wear a seatbelt, and use alcohol while driving. These activities cause young men to get more tickets than young women and file more claims with their insurance providers. Thus, 17-year-old boys cost more to insure.

The average cost of car insurance for a 17-year-old female on her own full coverage policy is $5,500 annually. However, the cost ranges from $1,400 to $9,400, depending on the state in which you’re insured.

These prices represent 17-year-old girls who take out their own full coverage car insurance policies. If you’re a parent looking to insure your 17-year-old girl, it is significantly cheaper to add them to your existing auto insurance policy. 

The cost to insure 17-year-old females is $800 lower than the cost to insure males of the same age group because young women are less likely to engage in risk-taking behaviors behind the wheel that would cause them to file a claim with their auto insurance provider. When young women reach their mid to late 20s, they will find themselves paying more in auto insurance premiums than men their same age. 

The cheapest car insurance for a 17-year-old will be a plan with the minimum amount of liability coverage required in your state. While liability coverage is certainly cheaper than full coverage, any auto insurance policy for a 17-year-old is going to be objectively expensive. 

Many insurance companies understand how high premiums are for 17-year-olds and other young drivers, so they offer discounts that, when combined, may save you up to 50% on your car insurance premiums. 

Many car insurance providers offer a good student discount for any student who receives at least a 3.0 GPA. Depending on your provider, this discount can lower your premium by 25%. Some providers also offer a safe driving training program in which students can enroll and, upon completion, receive up to 15% off their premiums as a good driver discount. 

Car insurance providers also offer non-merit-based discounts, like multi-policy or multi-car discounts. With a multi-policy discount, you can save money on your auto insurance premiums by bundling insurance policies like homeowner’s or renter’s insurance with the same provider. With a multi-car discount, your provider will give you a discount for insuring more than one car on the same policy.

The best car insurance for 17-year-olds will be a plan with extensive coverage options, low premiums, and several discount options. Progressive, Geico, and State Farm are some of the most popular insurance providers with low premiums for 17-year-olds and other young drivers. 

These providers also offer discounts for young drivers, such as a good student discount and a safe driving training program that, upon completion, applies a discount to your premium. Some providers also offer discounts for members of certain student organizations or young people who volunteer with participating non-profit programs.

The best car insurance for a 17-year-old driver will depend on what’s most important to you: cost or coverage. When shopping around for auto insurance, you will find two options for coverage: liability coverage and full coverage.

If the best car insurance for you is the cheapest plan, you will want a plan with the lowest minimum coverage required by your state’s laws. In many states, this plan will be a plan with only liability coverage.

Liability coverage is the cheapest car insurance coverage because it only covers the victim(s) in a car accident where the policyholder is deemed at fault. So, if a 17-year-old suffers injuries or damages to their vehicle in an accident deemed their fault, they won’t be covered by their insurance policy.

If the best car insurance for you is the plan with the most extensive coverage, you will want a plan with full coverage. Full coverage covers both the victim and the at-fault policyholder in an accident. This is typically the best car insurance for a 17-year-old driver because young drivers are more likely to cause car accidents than nearly any other population.

Parents of a 17-year-old can add their child to their existing insurance policy. When a 17-year-old with a full coverage plan is added to an existing insurance policy, the cost of their insurance alone is an average of $1,900. That means the cost of having your 17-year-old on your insurance policy is about $5,300 less than if they took out their own insurance policy.

A 17-year-old driver can get their own car insurance, but it is about $5,300 more than adding them to an existing policy, like a parent’s policy. If a 17-year-old takes out their own insurance policy on a car registered in their name, they will be called the “named insured” on their plan.

If a 17-year-old is insured on a parent’s vehicle or is added to a parent’s existing insurance policy, they will be called an “insured driver” on their plan.

Shopping around for insurance quotes is a great way to get the best deals on car insurance for your 17-year-old. Auto insurance coverages and costs vary for each policyholder, so to get the best policy for you, contact an agent online at Clovered.

Submit your information online with this form to get a quote from Clovered, then one of our licensed agents will reach out to you directly to discuss which policy will be best for you. You can call us at 833-255-4117 or email us at [email protected] with questions about car insurance for 17-year-olds any time.