This information is aimed primarily at families in which there is a teen driver, but could apply wherever it's important to acquire inexpensive insurance for the family automobile.
Every teen driver needs to understand the importance of clean driving record. Driving is a privilege and maintaining that privilege means being aware of the importance of no accidents, no speeding tickets and no traffic violations. Requiring the teen to earn part of the insurance premium cost by holding an after-school job will help him to also teach responsibility and good job experience skills.
If you're purchasing a vehicle for your teen driver, keep in mind that the type of automobile will be an important factor in the cost of the insurance premium. You should be particularly aware of the safety features which are built into the vehicle. A solidly build car that doesn't have a sports car classification will be priced lower than a high performance car or one that is high on the automobile thieves priority list.
Many U.S. states and Canadian provinces limit inexperienced drivers for a time until they've proven they can handle the special skills and responsibilities required of a driver. Because of these limitations, some insurance companies allow a discount on the usual teen rate.
You may want to price the cost of a stand-alone policy from a company that specializes in insurance for teen drivers. In this situation, the teen driver won't be on your policy, but will have a policy of their own. However, there may be additional restrictions placed on the policy, so you will want to know the details before choosing such coverage.
Once you've selected the type of coverage which you prefer for your teenager's insurance coverage, you should spend the time and effort to go online and check the qualifications of the companies which you are considering.
The first place to check is at your State Department of Insurance. Most of these state agencies maintain a consumer complaint web site where you can look at the experience of others with the companies in which you are interested. While one complaint or even a few complaints may not be definitive, a pattern of complaints or of a certain type of complaints against a particular company should give you cause for investigating further.
If your state doesn't have a web site where such information can be located, you can visit the State of California's web site found at www.insurance.ca.gov where information on performance is filed.
Another place to check out the insurance companies performance based on the review and rating of consumers is Epinion.com. These are personal observations by companies from customers. Posts describe how the customers were treated and how well the claims against the company were handled.
The Better Business Bureau in your area may or may not have a file on the company which you are considering. It's worth contacting them to find out.
In short, you don't want to find out you made a mistake in your selection of an automobile insurance company after you submit a claim. Do everything possible to complete your due diligence prior to purchasing the policy.