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
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 the 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!
