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How Much to Add 18 Year Old to Insurance

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What a teenager does to your car insurance rates

Adding a 16-year-old teen to your policy will increase your rates, on average, by about 130% to 140%, or an extra $2,000 annually, according to CarInsurance.com rate data.

Car insurance for young drivers is expensive, as you'll see in the table below, but you can still save by putting the teen on your policy rather than getting him or her their own coverage, and by garnering all the discounts you can for young drivers.

You'll see below how much it costs to add a 16-year-old driver to your policy in your state, on average, for full coverage:

State Average Rate Average Rate with Teen Percent Increase
Alaska $1,246 $3,600 189%
Alabama $1,304 $3,504 169%
Arkansas $1,556 $4,021 158%
Arizona $1,399 $4,463 219%
California $1,783 $5,660 217%
Colorado $1,675 $4,082 144%
Connecticut $1,980 $5,167 161%
DC $1,887 $5,261 179%
Delaware $1,838 $4,503 145%
Florida $2,250 $5,496 144%
Georgia $1,815 $5,343 194%
Hawaii $1,255 $1,292 3%
Iowa $1,073 $2,570 140%
Idaho $1,019 $2,812 176%
Illinois $1,176 $3,635 209%
Indiana $1,057 $2,538 140%
Kansas $1,412 $3,300 134%
Kentucky $1,611 $3,903 142%
Louisiana $2,228 $7,007 214%
Massachusetts $1,616 $3,964 145%
Maryland $1,541 $4,280 178%
Maine $884 $1,977 124%
Michigan $2,368 $6,217 163%
Minnesota $1,339 $3,392 153%
Missouri $1,288 $2,978 131%
Mississippi $1,504 $3,671 144%
Montana $1,589 $3,230 103%
North Carolina $1,170 $2,608 123%
North Dakota $1,123 $2,688 139%
Nebraska $1,287 $3,449 168%
New Hampshire $1,156 $3,406 195%
New Jersey $1,419 $4,590 223%
New Mexico $1,498 $3,991 166%
Nevada $1,578 $4,785 203%
New York $1,214 $3,347 176%
Ohio $959 $1,931 101%
Oklahoma $1,469 $3,446 135%
Oregon $1,325 $3,456 161%
Pennsylvania $1,438 $3,142 118%
Rhode Island $2,011 $5,829 190%
South Carolina $1,353 $4,230 213%
South Dakota $1,250 $2,776 122%
Tennessee $1,339 $3,487 160%
Texas $1,644 $4,387 167%
Utah $1,212 $3,243 168%
Virginia $993 $2,974 199%
Vermont $1,166 $2,978 155%
Washington $1,307 $3,323 154%
Wisconsin $1,147 $3,011 163%
West Virginia $1,467 $3,766 157%
Wyoming $1,577 $3,830 143%

See our detailed rate analysis by age for teen drivers, which shows pricing for adding a teen to a policy compared to the teen having his or her own, and broken down by state:

  • 16-year-olds
  • 17-year-olds
  • 18-year-olds
  • 19-year-olds

How can a parent with a teen driver lower car insurance rates?

Our parent guide to insuring a teen provides more detail, but here we'll offer the must-know steps to take for keeping teen driver rates as low as possible. First, shop around. The more you pay for insurance, the more likely it is that you can save money. Every insurer prices its coverage differently, and what might be cheaper for your neighbor might not be cheaper for you. You can compare auto insurance quotes online or by calling several agents. To learn more about how to get an idea of what you can expect to pay for coverage, read the details at our guide on how to estimate car insurance costs.

Comparing quotes is simply your best shot at saving money, and the payoff for a few minutes of work could be hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

The next best way to save money is to get all the discounts that apply to you. If your child maintains good grades, that earns a good student discount. In general you can expect to save 10% to 15% if your insurer offers a good student discount. You may also be able to get a multi-driver discount once you add your teen to your policy.

Third, buy the right car.  The best cars for teens are those with safety features that have low horsepower. The cheapest vehicles to insure are typically minivans. Good luck! But with that as your opening gambit, a rental-grade sedan will seem like a Ferrari to your teen. If the vehicle your teen is driving is old enough to get by with only liability insurance, that will also cut your costs.

Do I have to add my teenager to my car insurance?

State laws vary, so it is recommended that you always notify your insurance company that you have a teen driver, but in general:

  • All licensed drivers in a household need to be added to a policy. If you don't, your insurer may not cover an accident or other claim, or it may cover the claim only if you pay the additional premium it would have charged you.
  • Some states allow a licensed teen to be excluded from your policy, but you have to check to see if your insurance company also allows it -- few do.
  • Some states allow insurance companies to require you to list teens with driving permits -- so those who are not yet even licensed -- on your insurance policy. Those include Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
  • Most states will not allow a teen to title a car in his own name.
  • Even if your state has no age restrictions on titling a car, teen drivers under age 18 are unlikely to find insurance own their own. It's a contract, and teens are not old enough to sign one yet. That means that you would have to also sign the teen liability insurance policy if your child is under 18.

How Much to Add 18 Year Old to Insurance

Source: https://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/adding-teen-driver-cost.aspx