CAR INSURANCE RATES

Young people and car insurance rates

With car insurance rates unlike with other types of covers, such as medical or life insurance, being a bit older doesn’t count against you. Males over 25 are considered less of a risk than females younger than 20 years of age. It may seem like discrimination against young drivers to classify them as high risk drivers. It can be argued that it is unfair that young people, who cannot afford high insurance rates, need to pay more for their cover than older people.

Redisure understands that it may seem unfair The reason however, why all insurers ask higher insurance rates for this group is because statistics show that a higher percentage of drivers in this age group, are involved in collisions than any other age group. Although some young people argue that they drive responsibly and have never caused accidents or claimed, the claims figure for this group is still very high in proportion to other groups.

Older drivers on the other hand are less likely to drive too fast or under the influence of alcohol. Since many older drivers have children as passengers they tend to be more aware of road safety and responsible driving methods. This is not to say that older drivers don’t cause accidents or will not drive recklessly. It only means that a higher percentage of teenagers and young drivers are involved in vehicle accidents than the corresponding percentage of drivers in the older group.

It may not seem fair that one young person should pay more because another young adult caused an accident because of reckless driving or inexperience. If the risk however, is not carried by this group, it means that all the other drivers will have to pay higher premiums to carry them and that would be unfair. Thus, to be fair to all drivers, higher risk groups should carry the extra charges. When a person reaches 25 he or she would not want to pay a higher premium to help carry the risk of younger and less experienced drivers.

Redisure realizes that young people cannot afford high insurance rates and thus endeavors to advice young people on how they can lower their premiums in other ways. Apart from this, Redisure has done away with commissions and only charges a flat fee for insurance administration. This means that young people can also enjoy below average and very competitive premiums. Since Redisure is not a direct insurer, but a zero-commission broker, young people can be assured of objective advice on how to get lower insurance rates.

Young adults can pay lower insurance rates at Redisure when they help to carry or minimize the risk of excessive damage to their vehicles by doing the following:

• Park their cars in secure areas such as lockup garages or enclosed areas where there are security guards.
• When they nominate drivers, make sure that those drivers are older than 20 years or have their driver’s licenses longer than 3 years.
• Keep their driving records impeccable by driving responsibly.
• Buy older or more affordable vehicles.
• Purchase red, white or other more visible colored vehicles that can easily be seen in the dark and at dawn. Silver and black cars are difficult to see in poor weather conditions and are more likely to be involved in head-on collisions than white or red vehicles.
• Don’t park in areas where objects can fall on the vehicle and damage the windscreen.
• Prevent accidents by being alert at intersections and highway off-ramps.
• Premiums are also determined by the repair costs to the vehicle body and availability of body parts. When young people select vehicles, they should enquire about the cost and availability of vehicle parts for the specific models.

Redisure also provides the option of a higher excess in return for lower premiums. If you put money away to cover the excess payable, you can get interest on the amount through your financial institution, while you also save on insurance rates. This, together with the no-claims bonus and other methods for lowering your premiums, can make your policy more affordable even when you still fall in the higher risk group.