New England parents pay more than most to add a teen driver to their insurance
Parents of teen drivers in New England can expect to pay quite a bit to add their children to their insurance policy. But costs can be much higher in some states than others, according to a new study.
InsuranceQuotes found U.S. families that add a teen driver to their policy can expect to see an average annual premium increase of 79 percent. The good news for parents is this rate is lower than in 2013 when the average increase was 84 percent.
Because of their inexperience behind the wheel, teen drivers can be more expensive to insure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers between ages 16 and 19.
The report had a silver lining for Massachusetts parents, who only see their annual premium increase by 66.5 percent, less than the national average.
But Massachusetts is an outlier compared to other New England states, InsuranceQuotes found.
New Hampshire faces the highest rate increase in the country with an average increase of 125 percent. Rhode Island has the second-highest increase nationwide with 119 percent. The cost of adding a teen driver was also very expensive in Maine (99 percent increase), Connecticut (96 percent increase) and Vermont (95 percent increase).
For comparison, Hawaii offered the lowest average increase of just 17 percent.
“Regardless of the costs to insure your teen driver, safety is the No. 1 priority,’’ said Laura Adams, senior insurance analyst for insuranceQuotes. “We suggest parents educate teens on the dangers of driving, especially when it comes to texting while driving, or driving under the influence.’’
The report also found male drivers are more expensive to insure than female drivers. A married couple that adds a young male teen to a policy can see their premium jump by 91 percent while a female driver only increases costs by an average 67 percent.
InsuranceQuotes offers some suggestions to keeping teen drivers safe, including using monitoring technology to deter a teen from speeding or other risky driving habits, actively teaching a teen about safe driving habits and signing a contract committing to safe driving with tough penalties for violating it.
In addition to offering cheaper insurance for teen drivers, Massachusetts also earned high marks for teen driver safety in a separate report.
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