Auto Insurance question?

[GeordyBass]

Hey guys, I"m soon get another vehicle. I was wondering, if anyone has a teen driver like me, and what is the cheapest auto insurance? I had infinity with my 1st truck but it was upwards of $230 when i had my permit.... Now I'm licensed and want to know if there's a cheaper insurance company for me? I'm 16 btw and have had my liscense for almost a year.

Thanx!:Cool:

[sansou]

First, God save us all.

Some insurors will knock off a sizeable percentage (20% or more) if you have a "B" average or more in high school, in conjunction with having succesfully completed Driver's Ed in high school.

Geordy, that means less spray painting boats and more studying. LOL!

As for your parents adding you to their policy: I never ever, ever ever, recommend that for legal reasons. In fact, I recommend, if feasible, to put the car under the kid's name, and exclude the kid as a driver on any of the other family vehicles. It saves the family big in terms of premiums, and doesn't expose mom & dad as being added as defendants to a PI lawsuit. I can't begin to describe how many petrified parents I have represented whose teenager just exposed the family to financial ruin due to a car accident. Something to think about considering the fact that teenagers are the worst drivers on the road.

The big outfits are probably not going to be cost effective. They aren't going to be cheap b/c as they gain marketshare, they try to shed their high risk drivers. In addition, they tend to assign the riskiest driver (you) to the most expensive vehicle in the family to calculate. That means the State Farms, Allstates, 21st Century, Geico, AAA, Hartford, Farmers, etc, will not be cheap if you are buying the policy for yourself w/out going under your parent's policy. Your best bet is probably to seek out companies that want to capture that market share, and the easiest way to find out is to go through a broker.

As distasteful as it sounds, and because you are only 16 years old, you are essentially judgment proof. That means you can shaft the rest of the drivers on the road and get away with a minimum policy of 15/30, liability only (I also assume your first car will be a POS). If emancipated and you can show financial hardship, I think, but not 100% sure, you could even get a rare 5/10 policy!

Essentially, you could cause a major accident, probably get sued, and practically speaking, the plaintiff would only get the policy limits of your policy from your insurance company's lawyer, and you walk away as if nothing happened (as opposed to a typical middle age average income earner, who would likely fork over the policy limits PLUS out of pocket b/c he/she has assets to potentially cover the damages in excess of the 15K/30K).

This all assumes of course you are not financing (with daddy co-signing) the vehicle and the lienholder mandates you maintain a higher certain level of insurance w/ comprehensive coverage.

Your best bet to find a good list of the insurance companies that focus on the "non standard insured" is to go through an insurance broker. By the way, Infinity insurance is one of the more well known risk/non standard carriers in California....they may very well be competitively priced. A lot of drunks carry Infinity.

Good luck Geordybass, and try not to drive like a maniac.

[GeordyBass]

thanks Sumoboy.... This will be my 2nd car... but my next one will be an older Pathfinder or Toyota Minitruck... I had a Tundra V8 before but yeah, it was pretty tempting to gas it but, but i can control it.... With an older vehicle with a 4cyl, your lucky if you can get the little 4 banger to hit 75mph! lol,,,, I will really use it to fish around castaic and mdr and tow my little aluminum skiff around... and Off Roading too.... I'm gonna have it rigged up as an off road type car, so it will make it slower and heavier too.... I drive pretty well but as anyone would say, I'm too young and inexperienced.... I really am looking for a company which is super cheap and much coverage isn't needed as of now.... My dad also has infinity because he has my older sister in his policy,which decreases the premium to him and her by a lot.... I'm going to search for off-branded companies like you said and will see if my premium isnt too high! My next car will definitely be in my name and bought in cash.


Thanks for the help!