Question:
Can our 16-year-old twin daughters get any special discount since
there are two of them be added to the policy? They'll
be sharing a family car that is under our (parent's)
policy.
Answer:
As a parent of twins myself, I can sadly share that there is not a
"twins discount" for auto insurance -- or much of anything else,
for that matter. Car insurance companies simply don't offer a rate
reduction for multiple teens being added to your policy at
once.
Having one
young driver
getting licensed and insured is expense enough; having twins,
unfortunately, means double the costs. Both of your twin daughters
will need to be added to the policy, and both will be rated as
inexperienced, teenage drivers.
The
National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration
(NHTSA) has found the crash rate for 16-year-old drivers is 3.7
times higher than for motorists of all ages. Statistics like that
are what makes car insurance rates for teenagers dreadfully high:
One teen alone can double your rates, so for adding two teen
drivers has the potential to be much, much higher. (See "
What a teen does to your car insurance rates
")
A bit of good news is that because you have daughters instead of
sons you get a small rate break. Male teen drivers are known to be
more aggressive, so their rates tend to be higher than female teens
by 10 percent or more, depending upon the auto insurer.
Sharing a car that is on your existing policy will also help
your annual auto insurance premiums. You'd have only one car to
place liability and physical damage on (instead of one for each
daughter) and being on a parent's policy is almost always cheaper
than a teen obtaining their own car insurance. See "
The best cars for teens
" if you still are searching for a car to buy your twins.
A parent's policy is likely to have a renewal discount,
multi-car discount and multi-line discount, which all can greatly
help reduce your high premiums.
Your twin daughters can also help to lower their car insurance
rates. If they get good grades in school, then they may be eligible
for a good student discount, which can be up to 25 percent with
some auto insurers. With some auto insurance providers, a discount
will be applied if teens complete an approved driver training
course.
Lastly, if your daughters are safe drivers and are able to keep
their driving records clean of tickets or accidents, then after two
to three years of experience their rates should drop down some. And
once they turn 21 most insurers reduce rates a little more and then
again when they turn 25.
Until time passes and your twin daughters show themselves to be
good drivers, you'll need to shop around for the cheapest car
insurance rates for your family. The differences between what car
insurance companies charge can be thousands of dollars -- and the
higher your overall bill, the more you can save.