A: Sure. An SR22 auto insurance certificate is a costly type of car insurance, and adding a teen to your policy is bound to make your rates rise yet again, which is why you need to keep your eye on available discounts when choosing a car insurance company. There are two discounts which will save you the most with a teenager, and here they are.

First of all, you should have your teenager be part of a general driver’s education course. You can usually find a class like this at your child’s school. If they take a course in order to get their driver’s license, then once they have the course finished they will be able to get a discount. Don’t forget that your teen needs to be on your SR22 auto insurance certificate while they have their learner’s permit as well.

Second of all, you should keep an eye on your teen’s grades. What does this have to do with your SR22 auto insurance certificate? If your teen makes Bs or higher in his/her classes, then you can save good money on your auto insurance with a good student discount.

Is my 16 year old teenage son required to be added to my insurance policy simply because he has his license, or can he just borrow my insured car until she gets his own car? What are the ramifications (if any) if I didn’t add him and there was an accident? We live in PA.

Carrie

Allentown, PA

Pennsylvania insurance providers guidelines vary but in general insurance companies will require you to list all licensed motorists in your household on your insurance policy. Since you son has received his license your car insurance company should be notified and they will tell you if you are required to add him or not, most likely you will need to add him in order for his to have coverage.

If you do not inform your Pennsylvania insurance provider about your son being licensed and he is not added to the policy then he may not be covered if in case of an accident. Or we have heard of situations in which the teenager would be covered for the accident but only after you have paid the premiums that should have been paid for your teenage son to be on the policy and properly covered.

A: The key to getting excellent SR22 rates with a new car is for you to avoid doing just that–buying a new car. Although newer vehicles can be tempting, especially for teenagers who are fascinated with the idea of getting a car for the first time, the more your car is worth, the more you will have to pay to insure it. While you’re financing a car, you’ll need to have collision coverage, so your car insurance company will want to charge you more just in case it will have to pay to replace your car if your teenager should total it. So, the main key to good SR22 rates with a new car is for you to keep it cheap–stay away from new and high priced used cars.

Even though you may be getting a used car in order to save money on your SR22 rates for car insurance, since you are insuring a teenager you don’t want the car to be too old. Teenagers are notoriously dangerous drivers and very high risk, so you should get a car which is new enough to have many of the latest safety features installed. Try to get something which is at most 5-7 years old, so that it will be safe for your son to drive and will last him awhile. He’ll be able to offer you more help making payments the cheaper the car is, too.