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Some of the best car insurance for 18-year-olds is from Erie Insurance, with premiums as low as $241 a month or $2,888 a year for full coverage.
Car Insurance For New Drivers Under 18
Author: Daniel Robinson Contributor: Daniel Robinson Writer Daniel is a contributor to the Guides team and writes articles for numerous automotive news sites and marketing companies in the US. USA, UK and Australia, specializing in car financing and care. Daniel is the team’s expert guide to auto insurance, loans, warranty options, auto repair shops and more.
Cheapest Car Insurance For New Drivers
Editor: Rashawn Mitchner Editor: Rashawn Mitchner Managing Editor Rashawn Mitchner is a Guides team editor with over 10 years of experience in the personal finance and insurance industries.
Car insurance for 18-year-olds is expensive, whether you add a teenager to your policy or buy an individual policy. This is why the best car insurance for 18 year olds should be as affordable as possible.
The Guides team compared the rates of dozens of companies to determine which ones offer cheap car insurance for teenagers. Overall, our top pick is Geico, with a total coverage rate of $263 per month or $3,161 per year. Here we’ll share our top picks and ways to save.
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Car Insurance For 18 Year Old Drivers: What You Need To Know
Our team of guides are committed to providing reliable information to help you make the best decision about your car insurance. Because consumers trust us to provide unbiased and accurate information, we’ve created a comprehensive rating system to rank the best car insurance companies. We collect data from dozens of auto insurance providers to rank companies on a wide range of ranking factors. After 800 hours of research, the final result was an overall ranking of each insurer, with the insurers with the highest scores topping the list.
We estimate that comprehensive car insurance for 18-year-olds costs an average of $4,958 per year or $413 per month. If you add an 18-year-old to your family policy, your rates will go up, but you’ll save money overall. Older drivers also receive lower rates than 18-year-olds.
Several factors influence the cost of car insurance for 18-year-olds, including gender, driving history, location and credit score. Differences in premiums by gender are especially noticeable for teenagers and young adults, as 18-year-old males tend to pay much higher prices than females of the same age. However, some states do not allow auto insurers to use gender as a factor in calculating auto insurance rates.
Car insurance rates are more expensive for teenage drivers because they have less driving experience and are more likely to be involved in car accidents. Even an 18-year-old with a clean driving record will likely pay much more for car insurance than drivers in their 30s or 40s.
Ohio’s Teen Driving Laws
According to the AAA Foundation for Highway Safety, 18- and 19-year-olds are more than twice as likely to be involved in crashes as 30- to 39-year-old drivers. Below you can see the number of accidents per 100 million kilometers driven by age group.
The average cost of insurance is closely related to accident rates by age. You can see below that 18-year-olds pay on average more than double what 35-year-olds pay for full coverage car insurance.
The cheapest car insurance for 18-year-olds is Erie Insurance, which has an average rate of $2,888 per year or $241 per month for full coverage individual policies. USAA offers similar plans for about $2,897 a year or $241 a month.
*Auto insurance estimates are based on full coverage policies: $50,000 bodily injury per person, $100,000 bodily injury per accident, $50,000 property damage per accident, and $500 deductible for collision insurance and comprehensive coverage.
Ways Seniors Can Save On Car Insurance
Geico, Erie, USAA, and State Farm are all options available nationwide for 18-year-olds, but other providers may be cheaper in your state. Below are the cheapest providers for 18-year-olds in every state and Washington, D.C., based on our full coverage estimates.
Eighteen-year-olds in Hawaii, Ohio and Iowa pay, on average, the lowest rates in the country. Hawaii does not allow age to affect auto insurance rates in the state.
On the other hand, average individual auto insurance rates for 18-year-olds in Michigan, Connecticut, and Florida can be much more expensive.
Some of the best auto insurance for 18 year olds are offered by Geico, USAA, State Farm, Erie Insurance, and Auto-Owners Insurance. Each rating provided is based on factors such as cost, coverage, reputation, availability and customer service:
Tips For Saving With Teen Driver Discounts
Geico is our top pick for the best car insurance for 18 year olds. Considering that Erie is only available in about a dozen states and USAA is only available to military, veterans and their families, Geico is the cheapest company available nationwide. Our estimates show that Geico’s average rates are 36% cheaper than the national average for 18-year-olds. Geico also offers driver education and good student discounts that can lower rates for teen drivers.
USAA is another low-cost option for 18-year-old drivers, with average rates that are 42% lower than typical car insurance costs for this age group. Your teen may qualify for USAA if either of you is in the military or is a veteran. You can also transfer eligibility as a parent if you are a USAA member.
In addition to low prices, USAA offers reliable customer service. It has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and received a perfect score in J.D.’s US Auto Claims Satisfaction Study. Power 2021℠, with a score of 909 out of 1000.
State Farm made our list of the best car insurance for 18-year-olds for its student and teen discounts. For example, the Steer Clear® program is an educational course for new drivers that offers discounts upon completion. And a State Farm student discount of up to 25% applies until drivers turn 25. Our estimates show that State Farm’s average rates for 18-year-olds are 33% cheaper than the national average.
Cheap Car Insurance For 18 Year Olds
Erie Insurance offers affordable coverage in 12 states and Washington, DC. We estimate that their average fares for 18-year-olds are 42% cheaper than the national average. Like USAA, Erie performed well in J.D.’s claims satisfaction study. Power Auto, with 901 points out of 1000.
Operating in 26 states, Auto-Owners offers a variety of insurance coverage options as well as discounts for teen drivers. The company’s good student discount applies if your 18-year-old child has a B average or higher and offers a discount of up to 20%. Young drivers can also receive a discount on teen driver monitoring if they use a GPS device while driving. Our estimates show that car ownership is on average 41% cheaper than the national average for 18-year-olds.
Teen car insurance is expensive, but not everything is out of your control. There are things you can do to save money, such as adding an 18-year-old driver to your family policy, shopping often and looking for specific discounts.
If you live in the same household, you can add a teen driver to your family policy to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year. This will not work if the 18-year-old has a car registered in his name, in which case he will need his own policy.
Best Car Insurance For 18 Year Olds
Also, it may not make sense if the parents have a bad driving record or a very poor credit rating. In these cases, the 18-year-old can find cheaper rates on their policy.
Auto insurance discounts can make a big difference in finding good rates for young people. Young drivers can qualify for student discounts and parents can save money when their children go to school more than 100 kilometers away without a car.
Consolidation can also be a good idea if you have other types of insurance policies, such as renters insurance. Some auto insurance companies offer safe driving discounts to people with a short driving history, while others require four or five years of accident-free driving to qualify.
Companies with the best car insurance for 18 year olds offer a variety of discounts. When comparing car insurance quotes, look for the following discounts:
When Does Car Insurance Go Down?
Your levels of coverage and deductibles have a direct impact on your auto insurance rates. Consider the level of protection you need in the event of an accident and reduce your coverage to that amount to save money. You can also increase your deductible to take on a little more risk and lower your overall premium. A car insurance policy with minimum coverage will be the cheapest option.
If you’re considering buying a family car for your 18-year-old, consider paying cash for an affordable used midsize sedan or SUV. Without a car loan, you won’t need to have comprehensive or collision insurance on your vehicle.
You just need to have the level of bodily injury and property damage insurance required in your state. Some states require more coverage, but companies can’t sell you less than the basic amount.
Telematics insurance programs like
