Why A Young Car Driver Will Always Feel Like They’re Getting A Raw Deal
As a young car driver, you probably feel like you’re getting a pretty raw deal, I know I did. I had to drive a car that I hated because it was so uncool (it was all I could afford), I got stopped by the police two or three times a week (just to check my documents) and on top of all this I’d had to pay about double what the car had cost me for the privilege of protecting other peoples vehicles (I could only afford third party insurance).
The transition from childhood to adulthood is tough enough for teenagers; they’re dealing with school, relationships and spots amongst many other things, so is it time we started to give them a break when they first start out as a young car driver?
I’d love to answer yes here, and I can honestly say that when I was a teenage driver I desperately wanted things happen more easily, but when I look back on it, all the hassle and financial hardship associated with teenage driving probably did me more good than harm.
There’s no escaping the fact that it is expensive for young drivers to afford to buy a car and arrange car insurance for teenagers, but it kind of has to be like that for a couple of very good reasons.
Imagine as an 18 year old you could easily afford to insure any car you wanted. I can say without any hesitation that my driving history would have began with a Ferrari, it would have impressed the hell out of my friends, made me really popular with girls, and probably have killed me within a month of me owning it!
Safety is the biggest factor we need to contend with when we consider young drivers; as a group they are inexperienced, they drive too fast and they cause more accidents than any other age group (not all of them, but statistically as a group they do). So there is a need for them to serve a driving apprenticeship in a cheap, safe and preferably slow vehicle.
I don’t believe for one second that young drivers are bad drivers, far from it, I just believe they make some poor choices when they are behind the wheel and I will write more about this in my next article.
Also, what sort of life lesson would it have taught me if I’d been allowed to buy a Ferrari as my first car? No need to save to get what I want, no need to set a goal and work towards it and enjoy the satisfaction of achieving it (I have never owned a Ferrari, I grew out of that phase).
I know that when I was a young car driver I would have totally disagreed with every word of this article, but just think what I’d have missed out on!
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The 5 Causes Of Rocketing Car Insurance For Teenagers – Part 2
The insurance companies tell us that there are 5 main things that affect the costs of car insurance for teenagers. These are age, sex, driving history, where they live, and the car they drive. From the insurance company’s point of view there are some very good reasons behind this, but there are also a few things you can do to minimize any impact these ‘rules’ might have on you.
In ‘The Causes Of Rocketing Car Insurance For Teenagers – Part 1′ we looked at how the type of car you drive can have a huge influence on the cost of Car Insurance For Young Driver and why choosing a brand new car might be the best option for you.
This article will look at how driving history will affect what young drivers end up paying for their car insurance.
Imagine You Are An Insurance Company
Your job is to make profits for your stock holders, and the way you do that is by charging as much as you can for the insurance you sell, but also by limiting the amount you pay out in claims.
Now think what you would do if you were contacted by two different young drivers looking for insurance. They were both born on the same day; both drive exactly the same car, live in the same town, and are both males. The only difference between these two guys is that Driver A has a perfect driving history, no speeding tickets or traffic violations, while Driver B has been stopped twice for speeding and once for running a red light.
If they were exactly the same in all five criteria, the cost of their insurance would more than likely be exactly the same. But remember what I said about “limiting the amount of money you pay out in claims”, which one of these drivers is more likely to have an accident and will most likely cost you more in payouts?
It’s Driver B obviously, which is why you would make him pay extra for his insurance, if you wanted to make a profit. It’s not unfair, it’s not personal, it’s just what they do.
Insurance companies assess risk, they are very good at it, but to calculate the risk they need information. This information comes from you, about yourself, and from national statistics. Unfortunately national statistics say that teenage drivers, especially males, are up to ten times more likely to have an accident than someone over 30.
What Does All This Mean For You?
It’s simple really, if you want to get insurance, and you want to get it at an affordable cost, you must keep your drivers licence clean. It’s not easy I know, but think about how different you drive if you have your parents in the car to how you drive if your friends are in your car. I know when I was younger my friends would always encourage me to go faster, and I did, but I was lucky I didn’t get caught. You might not be as lucky as I was, and while your friends might laugh at you if you keep to the speed limit, they will laugh even more when they see you walking to the mall or even worse catching the BUS!
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The 5 Causes Of Rocketing Car Insurance For Teenagers – Part 1
According to the insurance companies, there are five main factors that affect the cost of car insurance for teenagers. To a greater or lesser extent we have some control over three of the five factors that determines the price we end up paying. The five factors are:
- The type of vehicle the teenager is looking to insure.
- The teenagers driving history.
- The location of where the driver lives.
- The age of the driver looking for insurance.
- The sex of the driver looking for insurance – Are they male or female?
This article will be looking at the types of vehicle best suited to a new driver, but we will be covering the other four factors in subsequent articles. In order to get the cheapest car insurance for young driver available, it would be advisable work your way through the list to see if you can make any changes.
There’s a real dilemma when it comes to choosing a teen’s first car. On one hand, the teenager would like to buy the coolest car they can find, whether that’s a performance type car or one that’s been heavily modified – this would certainly impress their friends and would probably make them the most popular kid on the block. The parents on the other hand, want everything in a car that is alien to a teenager, low running costs, stability, and above everything else safety!
Whether you’re a parent reading this or a teenager, there’s more than likely going to be an element of negotiation about buying the first car. For parents, you know your teen best, so you are best placed to decide just how sensible they will be when they first start to drive solo. For teenagers, your parents want to hear maturity from you – it will give them more confidence to buy you a car that better suits your needs than theirs. One word of caution though, don’t make promises you have no intention of keeping – if you promise not to speed and you get a speeding ticket straight away, you will lose their trust and may end up losing your car!
If you can afford it, your smartest choice is probably buying a brand new medium sized car. This offers the best balance between safety, image and low running costs (insurance premiums). New cars today are much safer to drive than cars were ten years ago; they are packed with safety features such as airbags, anti-lock braking systems, and driver protection systems. So opting for a new vehicle might turn out to be one of the best decisions you ever make.
Filed Under Car Insurance For Teenagers, Cost, Safety | Leave a Comment
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