At What Age Does Car Insurance Go Down?

When it comes to determining car insurance rates for drivers, age is one of the most important factors companies use to evaluate their premium decisions. Young drivers typically pay above-average rates for a few years until they can prove their safe habits behind the wheel. 

Keep reading to find out more about insurance breaks on age, the ages at which average car insurance decreases, and why your premiums are so tied to your age. 

For drivers who get their license at the ripe young age of 16, insurance goes down significantly by the time they turn 21 and continues to decrease until about 25. However, no matter what age, new drivers are going to pay more for car insurance premiums than drivers of the same age with more experience.

Let’s take a look at car insurance rates by age and the margin by which drivers will see their car insurance decrease, as reported in a study conducted by CarInsurance.com.

Year after year, statistical data shows that younger drivers tend to speed and get in more accidents than their older counterparts. Insurance premiums are calculated based on your individual risk of filing a claim, so younger drivers with a high risk of filing a claim generally see higher premiums. 

According to the National Safety Council (NSC), drivers as young as 16 to 19 make up only 3.6% of licensed drivers in the country but account for over 9% of drivers involved in crashes. Thus, insurers tend to charge these young, new drivers higher premiums due to their increased risk of being involved in a crash. 

When it comes to car insurance and age, the two factors are entwined, for better or worse. Generally, drivers aged 16 to 21 pay the highest rates for car insurance, and drivers stop seeing significant decreases in their rates at about age 25. 

While car insurance and age are undoubtedly entwined, premiums for young or new drivers are determined by another major factor: gender. Let’s see why young men and women tend to see different rates when they first start driving and how the trajectory of their premiums plays out as they age.

Car insurance rates begin to go down significantly for men by age 21, decreasing an average of 18% ($1,694 to $1,387 per year) from ages 20 to 21. After that, car insurance premiums for men decrease steadily by about $50 to $100 per year until they hit the lowest amount around age 64.

So, if you’re a parent paying for your son’s astronomically high premiums, wondering when will car insurance go down, hang tight. As drivers gain experience behind the wheel and prove they can make safe choices, insurers reward such behavior with lower premiums.

Males pay more for car insurance premiums from ages 16 to 25 because they tend to take more risks behind the wheel. Young males are more likely to speed, get involved in accidents, and participate in reckless driving than females of the same age.

In fact, in a study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), data showed young male drivers were involved in fatal traffic crashes at a rate more than double their young female counterparts. 

In the world of auto insurance, high risk comes with high premiums. Thus, insurance tends to be expensive for young male drivers until they age or prove their safe habits behind the wheel.

If you’re wondering when does car insurance go down for women, you’ll notice rates for women drop significantly at age 21, going down about 17% from $1,547 to $1,291 — both of which are less than what men pay for car insurance at the same age. 

Women typically pay less than men for car insurance from age 16 to 26 because they’re more careful in their driving and less likely to speed or get in accidents.

However, while car insurance for women still decreases at a steady rate from 21 to 64, car insurance rates for men drop lower than car insurance for women from ages 26 to 40. Women typically pay less than men for car insurance premiums until they hit age 30 when it evens out and sometimes increases more for women. 

This is mainly due to external factors predicting that women will more likely drive with children in the vehicle—getting distracted at a greater rate than men not driving with children in the car. 

Car insurance for new drivers, who get their license at 16, tends to go down after five years when they turn 21. The real cost savings come at 25 and 30, though. As a teenager, you’re more likely to drive carelessly, speed, and get in accidents since the decision-making portion of teens’ brains isn’t fully developed yet, and they don’t have much experience behind the wheel.

However, just because car insurance rates typically go down for new drivers over the years, that doesn’t mean an advanced age will give you an edge over younger new drivers. A new driver who got their license at 21 will pay similar car insurance rates as a new driver who’s 16.

However, due to maturity and brain development, the premiums of 21-year-old drivers will decrease more drastically and quickly than those of their 16-year-old counterparts. But if the 21-year-old proves to be a high-risk driver on the road, racking up a slew of moving violations and driving a nice car, their premiums may surpass those of a younger, more careful driver.

It’s important to remember, too, that the cost of car insurance is also heavily impacted by factors other than age or driving experience. The type of coverage you maintain, whether your policy is full coverage or liability coverage, and other external factors play a part in determining your rates, too.  

Yes, those wondering when will car insurance go down will likely see relief at 21. Assuming young drivers are making consistently safe choices on the road, 21 is the first age drivers will start to see significant declines in their auto insurance costs.

Specifically, drivers who have had their licenses since they turned 16 — or for a few years — will start to see their premiums drop around 21, as the difference in premium costs for both young men and women at 21 is about 20% lower than at 20. This is because insurers have had enough time to determine their driving patterns and whether they file claims often or not, allowing them to accurately assess risk.

21-year-old drivers who are new to driving may not see premiums as low as those who have a few years under their belt, but as long as they maintain a good record, they will see a drop in their car insurance prices. 

25 years old is a benchmark for a major decrease in car insurance premiums, with the average premium for 25-year-olds coming in at about 69% cheaper than that for their 16-year-old counterparts. While car insurance begins decreasing at age 17 and steadily decreases until a person reaches 65, the jump from 20 to 25 is the most major decrease in averages.

That’s because people are more mature, and their brains have fully developed by age 25, increasing their decision-making skills and leading to more careful driving. In layman’s terms, drivers who are 25 and older are less likely to speed and are more careful on the road, leading to fewer accidents.

When drivers reach 25, many rental car companies open their doors to them and allow them to rent cars without having to purchase extra coverage. They may see this age as a sign of maturity, and they follow auto insurance company standards to mitigate risk in their vehicles.

If you’re sick of paying high premiums, and wondering when does car insurance get cheaper, rest assured car insurance generally decreases at 25 and steadily decreases until drivers turn 65. However, the five years between 25 and 30 are formidable years for the auto insurance industry. 

During those years, people tend to get married and settle down, both in their personal lives and their driving habits.

During those years, drivers typically have 10-plus years of experience on the road, allowing their brains to develop through a multitude of driving situations. They’re more in control and aware of the external driving factors at hand, so they’re much less likely to speed or get in serious accidents.

When people get married, they tend to be more conservative in their driving. They combine auto insurance policies, which gives them a greater discount over those with a single person on the policy.

Yes, car insurance eventually increases with age. However, at what age your rates start to increase may depend on your gender, and other factors. When drivers hit 30, they’ve had lots of experience on the road, and age becomes less of a factor in determining car insurance premiums.

From 30 to 64, car insurance premiums steadily generally decrease through the years, but, unfortunately, you won’t get those major decreases as you saw at 25. Even still, women may see some increases or stagnancy in their premiums, as they tend to be a bit higher risk than men during middle age.

During this age range, factors like the kind of car you drive, the number of moving violations on your record, and your credit score are greater factors in determining your increase or decrease in car insurance premiums.

The opposite of new drivers, drivers 65 and older can expect their car insurance premiums to increase over the years. While this isn’t directly related to them driving more recklessly at that age, physical ailments are more prevalent and can make driving a bit more dangerous, making cheap 65 and older car insurance more difficult to find.

Older drivers, for example, are more likely to have their vision worsen, which can lead to impairment in diving, especially at nighttime. The National Federation of Blindness reports that while 2.4% of the population report visual disability, the prevalence of visual disability in people 65 or older is about 6%.

Older drivers are also more likely to suffer from things like arthritis and limited mobility, which can affect how quickly they respond to careless drivers and accidents at hand.

But even though there’s no statistical data proving drivers over 65 get in more accidents, the accidents are typically more severe because injuries are more complex and difficult to heal than their younger counterparts.

Just because the average state car insurance is more expensive for men than women at certain ages, that it decreases slowly until 21 and steadily goes down until 64, that doesn’t mean age is the only factor in determining your car insurance premiums.

Make sure you’re claiming any discounts you may qualify for, you’re driving safer, maintaining a clean driving history, and paying for only what you need. Here at Clovered, we can help you get auto insurance quotes for drivers of every age by giving you free access to our online quoting tool.