At least for the purpose of auto insurance, male drivers between the age of 20 and 25 are considered young men. On average, a 20 year old male driver pays about 1.5 times higher vehicle insurance premiums than a 25 year old. This price gap closes as they progress from 20 to 25, providing they don’t have any accidents and traffic violation citations. They are considered mature adults when they reach age 25 and charged normal rates.
It is common knowledge that teenage boys are in the highest risk drivers group but they are often listed under their parents’ policies. When they reach their 20s, they are more likely to need their own Auto insurance. Even though rates come down from 2.5 at 16 to 1.5 times at 20 (in comparison to 25 and over), young male drivers are still considered high risk.
Male motorists cause more serious accidents than females as they tend to be high speed collisions with injuries, large vehicular and property losses and fatalities.That is why car insurance rates for men are about 10% more expensive in comparison to women. This premium gap between men and women remains consistently throughout life, although it is slightly higher in the early years.
Odds are against you if you are young and male. Unfortunately, you don’t need to do anything to deserve this because prices are based on historical data. And there is not much you can do to change it except patiently waiting to get over these years. In the meantime, you need to make the most of very few discounts offered and try to manage risks by buying a cheap to insure automobile.
Often, parents allocate the oldest cars in the family for the use of their boys so that they can buy Liability only coverage for them and avoid paying for Collision and Comprehensive coverage. Considering, Liability auto insurance is about half the cost of full coverage on average in the US and premiums for a young man can be in the thousands, this strategy can save as much as a couple of thousand dollars a year easily.
No matter how adverse the circumstances are usually there are still some savings available if you look hard enough and this applies to everyone. Here are a few tips to help find cheap auto insurance for a young man, who is itching to start driving but hopefully they haven’t bought the car yet for the best results.
- Buy a Car with Economical Rates: You have already got two seriously influential factors going against you. These are age and gender. If you add a high-risk automobile into the equation it would be like throwing gas on fire. Even an experienced motorist with no recent claim or ticket would suffer about 20 – 40% vehicle insurance premium increase once he/she replaces a sensible auto with a performance one. That is why you should try to stay away from cars with expensive insurance ratings until you have several years of history behind. It is also possible that you may not be able to find coverage for them with you behind the steering wheel. Not many insurers will take a chance with such a dangerous combination no matter how much you are willing to pay.
- Consider Pay As You Drive Vehicle Insurance: One of the main reasons why most companies wouldn’t want to cover you is because you have no history and therefore pretty risky. And one of the best ways of proving that you are better than average is to let them see it by allowing them to monitor your driving with a telematics device. There are several carriers that offer pay as you go type of policies and it can be a great tool to find more affordable automobile insurance premiums.
- Try to Keep Driving to Bare Minimum: If you are not on the road much you can claim low Mileage discounts. Most carriers would be happy to accept the odometer readings as proof but there are companies that specially offer this again with telematics devices that only read the odometer. If you travel less than 7000 miles a year you can probably qualify for this discount as well.
- Be a Good Student: Chances are you are a student and good grades can help you get better quotes. So, you have one more reason to pay attention in class and get the marks needed, if you are at college. Some companies stop offering student discounts after age 23 so you may need to shop around.
- See If You Can Take Advantage of Family Discounts: Always look for those easy to get, low qualification requirement type of savings. A few companies are happy to extend about a 10% discount when someone wants to buy a policy from his/her parents’ insurance company. You just need to talk to them and let them know that your parents have been with them and you want to do so as well if you get a reasonable price. But this family discount is usually only available if you are still living with your parents.
- Any advanced Driving Course Would Help: If you have taken any advanced courses or passed any additional tests you should make sure the agent knows about it. They are likely to offer further discounts.
- Never Buy after Only One Quote: Don’t make this rookie mistake and get a few quotes and compare them with each other carefully. This is the most effective way of getting the most competitive auto insurance and doesn’t require any qualification. You should know that companies have serious price differences. GEICO, State Farm, Progressive, Travelers, American Family and Nationwide are some of the larger insurers offering good rates for younger drivers so you can follow that order to get quotes.
- Buy a Six Monthly Policy: The premiums come down fast with each trouble free term and you want to make most of it. So, having shorter intervals help in speeding the process up. However, a longer term policy comes with the safety that your car insurance rates won’t increase until the end of the term even if you have an accident.
How to Avoid Even Higher Premiums?
Being a young and inexperienced driver can really put you in a disadvantageous position in many ways. You should know that it might take a few hours of patience to really grasp the intricacies of operating a motor vehicle. You are not an accomplished driver just because you are licensed. Just spare some time to get used to the new automobile and ease on to the roads.
Having one accident no matter how small can exasperate already expensive auto insurance rates further. So, avoid distractions like texting, using any handheld gadget and having more than one friend in the vehicle with you. The chances of crashing a car is much higher when you get distracted even when you are experienced enough.
The next thing to avoid is speeding or other moving violation tickets that will go onto Motor Vehicle Record. These will be seen by agents and make it harder for you to find affordable automobile insurance coverage for at least three years. That is how long it takes for tickets and claims to come off record in most states and with most carriers.
Companies assume the worst when they insure a young person. Don’t give them any more reason to think that they were right and it was a mistake to take you on. Then, you will start seeing rates gradually come down starting from the next renewal. You just need to get over these early few years and especially the first year without an incident.