Auto Insurance Rates and Stages of Life

Auto insurance rates are one of those things that follow a person throughout his or her whole life. Most Americans generally need to be on the road for a significant portion of their lives, and their interaction with their auto insurance policies can change over time with age.

Teenage Drivers

A newly minted American driver starts out young and inexperienced in the ways of the road. Auto insurance companies realize this, and boost the “risk rating” for younger drivers. This leads to much higher costs for auto insurance that covers the youngest drivers on the road.

Lots of new teenage drivers get added to their parents’ family policy as an additional driver, at least while they are learning to drive. This helps cut down costs, but later, when the young driver owns their own vehicle, a family policy may not be relevant, especially depending on where the vehicle is garaged.

Although teens do have some options available, such as safety classes and workshops, lowering their premiums is a lengthy and involved process. The best option for many new drivers is to start off small, getting a very used vehicle and taking out only the basic liability insurance. Having less vehicle damage to risk means that the teen driver can control their auto insurance rates. Over time, they can take these rates down slowly by building credit, developing a clean driver's record and otherwise demonstrating their ability to drive without incident.

Drivers in “Middle Age”

As mentioned, as American drivers grow and mature, they generally find their auto insurance rates becoming more “friendly” to their wallet. Shopping around produces deals that will cover vehicles for less, as insurers look at clean driving records, good credit ratings and other indications that the driver is a responsible steward of his or her assets.

Getting married also has a favorable impact on auto insurance policies. Spouses can join their policies together, adding multiple vehicles for multiple commutes, and generally sharing the cost of operating their cars and trucks.

Seniors

As an American driver grows older, he where she will have to think about the future of his or her life on the road. At this point, auto insurance is usually not that big of a problem. As insurers see through advanced calculations that seniors are often less of a liability, rates come down.

For seniors on fixed incomes who may find that their auto insurance rates are still too high, another new option will help them save a whole lot of money. An option called pay as you drive insurance allows any driver to purchase coverage only for the miles they will actually use within a given time period. This option appeals to the meticulous nature of some drivers, and in the case of seniors, who often use their vehicles for optional leisure driving, pay as you drive insurance can be a real winner, saving additional costs and keeping vehicles legally on the road.

However, any driver's later years, auto insurance also act as an incentive for routinely evaluating whether an older drivers should be on the road in a given area. Drivers who are experiencing natural signs of aging, such as loss of hearing and vision, may have a small accident and see their rates go up. This is a good time to look at finding other options for transportation and gradually “wean” one’s self off of the very ingrained habit of driving a car everywhere. Seniors will have to look realistically at their liability and seek options for avoiding repeated accidents due to any conditions that impair their ability to drive.