Buying car insurance
When you get your driver’s license and your first car, you probably won’t be thinking about car insurance. You probably know you need it but, at the moment, are more concerned with the color of your car and where you’re going to drive than which company you’re going to choose.
There are a couple different ways to get car insurance:
Your parents
The easiest way to purchase car insurance is through your parents. It is usually the cheapest way, too.
Your parents have probably been on the road for a while now and may have developed some good credit and low payments with their insurance company. Also, they will probably be able to easily take care of most of the paperwork and tedious tasks.
When you first start driving, you are looked at as a risk. This is why, as a teenager new to driving, when you get your own insurance, it will probably be pretty pricey. It will still be more to add yourself onto your parents than if they added just another car and an experienced driver. Still, every little bit counts.
Also, when you are on your parents insurance, you have time to gain experience and hopefully a good track record. Spend a couple of years on your parents insurance first with no accidents or speeding tickets, and your rate should be lower when you decide to get your own.
Make sure you know who will be paying for the insurance. Your parents might say they will pay for it, but it might be a good responsible idea to pay yourself, or at least a percentage of it.
Discuss with your parents the rules on driving especially when you share their insurance. When you make a mistake it will show on their bill. This is why they look at you as a risk and probably won’t let you take just any car anywhere.
Get your own
If and when you decide to get your own car insurance, the first thing you should do is your research. Don’t rely simply on the funniest commercial to find a good insurance company.
So many sites and companies will give you a quote or estimate on your car insurance. Check them out and decide on the best rate. Make sure you know what pay period you are looking at. There is a big difference between paying monthly and quarterly.
Next, you need to look into the company. What type of benefits does it give for safe drivers? What is their customer service like?
As friends and family how they like their car insurance companies. They might even be able to steer you away from companies that they have had bad experiences with.
Overall, don’t just look at prices and entertainment, look at the whole package. As the saying goes, “don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Whichever route you choose when buying your own car insurance, do your research and be responsible.
