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The costly truth of insuring teen drivers
As if teenagers don't already add enough stress to their parents' lives, once they start driving, family auto insurance rates not only inevitably go up — as you'd expect when adding drivers to a policy — but in most states they positively skyrocket. Online insurance emporium InsuranceQuotes.com conducted a study of the average premium increase after adding a teen driver to an existing auto insurance policy in all 50 states.
The effort found that, nationwide, such families will see an average 79 percent increase in premiums, but that's down from 84 percent in 2013. The firm also found it costs much more to add a young male driver than a female one. And adding a male teen to a married couple's policy results in a national average premium increase of 91 percent, compared to an increase of 67 percent for a female.
"Regardless of the costs to insure your teen driver, safety is the No. 1 priority," said Laura Adams, senior insurance analyst for InsuranceQuotes.com. "We suggest parents educate teens on the dangers of driving, especially when it comes to texting while driving or driving under the influence."
In the following slides, CNBC.com shares InsuranceQuote.com's top and bottom five states for auto-insurance rate increases when adding a teen driver to an existing policy. (States with lower increases tend to have greater regulation regarding insurance rates.)
— By CNBC's Kenneth Kiesnoski
Posted 22 June 2016