Due to teenagers that are newly licensed having such high rates of accidents they cost more to insure then an experienced driver who is more prone to avoid an accident then cause it.

The costs of adding a teenager will vary depending upon your insurance rates already, your geographical location and your teen to name a few. For instance if you live in a congested area where your teen is more likely to be involved in an accident compare to a more suburban or rural area the rate to insure your teenager will likely be more.

As for the teen themselves rates may vary due to if they have taken formal driving lessons or driver's education and if you are able to get any type of discount for their grades. If you have a teen that maintains a higher GPA this may allow you to cut costs for auto insurance.

So in very general terms adding a teenager may cost $1200 to even $2500 a year. On average, a 16 year old can expect to pay 2.52 times the base rate for their insurance. So if you as a parent of a teen now pay $500 for a year of car insurance, then adding a 16 year old newly licensed driver onto your policy could raise your rates to (again on average) $1260 for a year of car insurance.

Depending on where you live some studies show that your insurance rates may go up 50 to 200 percent for adding on a teenager.

For example according to the 2003 auto premium survey complete by the California Department of Insurance (DOI) a couple in San Diego would have paid an average of $2,324 annually for auto insurance before adding their teenage son to the policy. Adding the newly licensed teen would raise the average rates to $4,562, a 96 percent increase. A ticket or accident by the minor could raise the rates another $1,000 or more.

If you have a teenager that is newly licensed and needs to be added to your auto insurance policy you should speak to your agents about what your new premium amount would be. You then can comparison shop with other car insurance carriers to see if you may be able to find lower costs. You can get started here with us by getting auto insurance quotes online.