As soon as a teenager hits the legal age of obtaining a drivers license they probably want their own car to fulfill the dream of freedom from being transported around by their parents. However, the shock they get when they understand how much they have to pay for their own insurance will probably be traumatic. Car insurance for teenagers is indeed expensive!
This might lead them to start looking for ways to lower their premiums with the insurance company, and to do that you have to understand how they think. Insurance companies make money on something they call “float”. The “float” is the total pool of money that comes in from their customers as premiums, or what you pay for you insurance, minus current expenses. Since claims usually aren’t paid out the same year that the premium is paid in, the company can invest you money and earn interest on it. Now, to make money they have to make sure they pay out as little of this float as possible to cover claims, and since teenagers statistically report more accidents than just about any other age group, they will be required to charge you more in premiums than what they charge older, more reliable drivers.
It’s that simple, young drivers are more expensive for the insurance companies and therefore charge you more. This means that to be able to get a lower priced policy, you have to convince them that you are a responsible and safe driver. They will look at your driving record to see if you have any tickets or earlier incidents. If you have taken special driving classes, that will be a plus. They will even look at your grades to assess if you are a responsible person, as how you perform at school often indicates how you will perform in traffic as well.
The bottom line is that insurance is supposed to be a mutually beneficial deal between you and an insurance company, so make an effort to be perceived as a trustworthy driver and cheap car insurance rates for teenagers should be possible.