College Student Car Insurance – Tips on Getting the Best Rates for Students

August 14, 2008

insurance quotes

Being young comes at a premium price when it comes to auto insurance. Insurance companies view young people under 25 as a high risk for making claims. It’s not that they hate you. They have factual statistics to back it up. Teenage and college aged individuals are the most likely age group to get into an accident. Some of it is due to inexperience driving, making poor decisions, and reckless driving. But, this doesn’t mean that every college student is a bad driver. In fact, the vast majority of you are very responsible drivers. Here’s a look at five tips to help you get better rates on your car insurance premiums.

  1. Choose a higher deductible. For collision and comprehensive coverage, choose $500 or $1000 for your deductible, but make sure that you stash enough cash away in an emergency fund to cover your deductible if you do get in an accident.
  2. Choose a safe car to drive. You can’t get around the fact that an insurance company will give you high rates based on your age. But, you can control what type of car you drive. Typically, a 4-door sedan with high safety ratings will yield lower premium rates than a sports car or SUV. I know, the Honda Accord doesn’t get the chicks, but the money you’ll save on insurance premiums can go towards money for dates.
  3. Skip on collision coverage. Most young people drive clunkers. I drove a 1987 reddish-pink Nissan Sentra for two years. It was worth about $1,000. A friend of mine drove a $2,000 Pontiac Firebird for a year. If you have a clunker, you probably don’t need to pay for collision. Any car with a book value of less than $3,000 warrants skipping out on collision. The amount you’d spend on the premium could be saved every month and pay for another clunker.
  4. Get good grades. Most auto insurance companies will give you a 10% to 15% discount on your auto insurance premium for having good grades. A 3.0 GPA or higher is usually the standard for receiving the discount.
  5. Buy another policy with the same carrier. Many insurance companies will give you a discount for having multiple policies with them. I recommend coupling your auto insurance with renter’s insurance. Most college students don’t buy renter’s insurance. It will protect your personal property in an apartment from theft, vandalism, fire, water damage, and many other perils that can destroy your stuff. The best part is that you can pick up a $20,000 policy for $10 to $15 dollars a month.

Search Online Insurance Quotes
The web makes it easy to shop around for coverage. Here are a few places you can get insurance quotes online so you can compare their rates right away:

Esurance Insurance quotes

Travelers Insurance quotes

Saving money is a learned habit. You’re not born with the gift of knowing how to save money. If you develop this habit throughout your college years, you will be very successful with your money. You will typically spend 10% to 15% of your monthly income on insurance premiums in your lifetime. It’s worth it to put the effort into saving money on your premiums.

Some of the earlier articles in this series cover the best checking account for college students, how you can make extra money in college, and the best student credit cards.

Stay tuned for tomorrow when we’ll cover saving money with student discounts.

These tips for saving money on auto insurance for college students is part of the College Student Money Guide.

Erik

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Erik
Erik Folgate is a husband and father living in Orlando who's been writing about money online for 6 years. Digging himself out of $20k of debt after college and his former experience in the insurance industry give him some useful insights into personal finance issues.

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Comments

16 Responses to College Student Car Insurance – Tips on Getting the Best Rates for Students

  • sara

    It’s gonna be pretty hard to find cheap rates for students (because of their young age and inexperience). All I can say is good luck. The cheapest I found for my son was from autoinsurancequote, but I think that no matter what, college auto insurance is gonna be expensive.

  • Emma hurt

    For college students the 21st Century insurance will definitely be helpful. The 21st Century Insurance company’s 24 hour customer service effectively enables its customers to locate the nearest agent.

  • Sarah lin

    Find insurance policies with lower premiums for students. Finding a student car insurance is not easy. Contact the insurance company to see what offers and discounts may apply for students who consistently earn A’s and B’s. Also begin your studies early with a defensive driving course that can provide an additional discount on your car insurance.

  • jessica bown

    While taking the car insurance for students Consider how many miles you will be driving. When buying your car insurance the number of miles driven per year will have a major effect on your premium.they better to choose short term car insurance so be accurate and make sure you don’t over estimate. Although be honest, if you “lie” to your insurer you could potentially invalidate a claim.

  • sarah coles

    There is no point in paying huge extra premiums to insure a low value car against loss or damage. but i like multi car insurance why because in my home we have 3 cars that vl deffinetly benfits us.It is liability to others that is the legal requirement, but articles like this contribute to the belief that you have to insure the car itself, and lead people to drive with no insurance because their car has little value.

  • Sam

    If withholding information from your car insurer isn’t a valid way to keep your premiums down, how else can you save money? The following tips could reduce the amount you pay for car insurance without getting you in trouble with the old bill.

  • Stan

    Most parents continue to claim their college students on their personal income taxes until their child is earning their own living and paying their own taxes. This means that in the worst case scenario if your son were to drive and have an accident you may be the one sued for the liability of your dependent child’s car accident. Children away at college may not have the use of your car, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be driving a friends car.

  • Esther

    Good article. I am college going student & I have got lot of information for the car insurance for young drivers from insurance site. This is really amazing. The insurance policy have all the benefits such as protection against theft & damages to your vehicle, cover will also take care of any third party liabilities, cover for optional features such as windscreen, courtesy car, legal expenses, etc., and also it can be insure for single day or for month. This is really very easy to apply online, can get the quotes and also can be compared with other insurance companies.

  • Maya

    That’s true. I am a college student and having a car insurance. I think it is important for all those who drive vehicles. The insurance company gave me discount when I insured my car along with renter’s insurance.

  • Maya

    I agree with you all. I am a student and own car insurance. I think it is necessary for not only students but also to those who drive. The insurance company gave me discount when I insured my car along with renter’s insurance.

  • Erik

    DriveKick, very true also. Just don’t drive crazy, don’t get in accidents, and don’t get speeding tickets. You’ll save a lot of money over your lifetime on car insurance premiums!

  • DriveKick

    I know it’s kind of obvious but just be careful when you drive – if you don’t have any points on your record you are seen as a lower risk and, in turn, get lower insurance rates.

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