If you’re looking for car insurance and you’re under 25, you already know that the rates are much higher for you than for people older than that age. Unfortunately, the younger you are, the higher your rates will be. If you’re a teenager, your rates may be so high that you can’t afford insurance. There’s a reason premiums are so high, and by taking a few minutes of your time, you can drastically reduce the amount you pay for insurance…

Lowering your monthly premium should be your ultimate goal when shopping for insurance. Chances are you won’t have an accident where you have to use the full deductible amount. In fact, less than 5 percent of policies will ever pay the full amount of the deductible over the life of the policy. So the first thing you should do is raise your deductible so you don’t waste money on your monthly premiums.

If you’re still in school, many schools or community centers will offer a free or reduced-price defensive driving course. For something that could cost you less than twenty dollars, you could be saving up to twenty percent on your insurance. It only takes, on average, about four hours, and that will save you hundreds per year.

If you haven’t bought your car yet, you should talk to your insurance agent about which cars are the cheapest to insure. Less expensive cars are generally cheaper, but there are certain models that are even cheaper than others because their theft rate is lower than others. You should also be aware of certain safety features, such as anti-lock brakes, an alarm system, and daytime running lights. These usually don’t cost more, and some cars have them as standard stock. Each of these features greatly reduces the rate you’ll end up paying.

Lastly, when it comes time to buy insurance, you should check out different companies to see what the different prices are. You should compare at least ten different companies and check out what they have to offer. You can try to do this by calling or visiting each insurer yourself, but there are companies and entire websites dedicated to doing this for you. Just enter your information once and it will give you quotes from many companies, both the big three and smaller ones. You will be surprised at the big difference sometimes.