How Much Is Car Insurance for 18-Year-Olds? (Updated in 2024)

Age is a huge factor in car insurance costs. Those who are older (but not too old!) often have cheaper insurance than those who are younger, as they’ve been driving longer. After all, teenagers are more likely to get into accidents than someone who has been driving for over 30 years.

However, different companies weigh age differently. It is possible to find cheaper insurance for an 18-year-old. You just have to know where to look.

The Importance of Car Insurance

Car insurance is required by law in many states. However, you often only need liability insurance, which covers the other driver in the case you get in an accident. States don’t always require you to get insurance that would cover your losses.

Still, it is often a good idea to invest in comprehensive insurance that will cover damages done to your car in these situations. Of course, this costs a lot more. Therefore, you’ll need to decide if the extra coverage is worth it or not.

Either way, be sure to check your state requirements and get the insurance that meets these requirements. Often, many insurance companies know what your state requires and will offer you a package that meets these requirements.

How Much Does Car Insurance for 18-Year-Olds Cost?

The average car insurance for someone who is 18 is $7,396 per year for comprehensive insurance. Generally, this is about $600 a month. However, costs can vary widely. Allstate is often considered one of the most expensive insurers out there and charges nearly $11,000 per year. Therefore, this company alone raises the average substantially. Most other companies will be below the average for this reason.

We’ve created a small graphic below to help visualize the differences in cost:

Of course, simple liability insurance is much cheaper. However, the price can vary substantially.

Additional Costs to Anticipate

There are several other factors that also affect the price of car insurance. For instance, if you’ve had previous accidents, then your price may be much higher. While practically all companies increase costs with accidents, some of them increase the price more than others. Furthermore, some companies increase the costs for all accidents. However, others only increase it if you caused the accident.

The exact car you have also affects the price. Sometimes, certain cars will have higher costs than others, depending on how much they cost to repair. Of course, this won’t necessarily affect the price of liability only.

Your state’s legal requirements will affect the price of minimum insurance you can purchase. Therefore, if you’re only aiming at getting the minimum insurance, then your price will be higher if your state has a higher minimum. Therefore, some states are actually rather high, while others are quite low.

Certain violations also affect your costs. If you have a DUI, for instance, then your car insurance will cost quite a bit more. Sometimes, it may increase the cost by over 100%. How long these violations factor in your car insurance price varies.

Can 18-Year-Olds Get Their Own Car Insurance?

18-year-olds can get their own car insurance. However, it is typically cheaper to stay on your parent’s insurance. Therefore, we recommend staying on your parents’ plan if possible. Of course, there are some situations where staying on their plan simply isn’t possible. In these cases, you can get your own plan.

Of course, the price may differ depending on the coverage you get. Your parent’s plan likely won’t be cheaper if they have a comprehensive plan on you only plan on getting minimum insurance.

Can I Put My Son on My Car Insurance?

In many cases, you can add your children to your car insurance plan. However, different companies have different policies involving drivers. Plus, you’ll need to ensure that they will accept your son, as well. If your son has been in many accidents and is having trouble getting their own insurance, there is a chance the company will not allow them on your plan, either.

Furthermore, be sure you are honest about who the “main” driver is. If your son has their own car that they drive most of the time, they need to be listed as the main driver. Otherwise, you may get into legal trouble.

While this practice can lower your overall insurance cost, it is extremely illegal. Insurance companies don’t always catch you, of course. However, if they do, they can charge you with fraud, which would make it challenging to get insurance again.

Conclusion

Car insurance prices for 18-year-olds are often higher than average, though not necessarily as high as a younger driver. However, if you’ve been driving for a couple of years and have no accidents, then you may actually pay much less than average.

Furthermore, some companies are extremely expensive, while others are quite cheap. Therefore, you can often find insurance for below-average prices if you choose a company known for offering cheaper insurance.

In many cases, it does you some good to shop around a bit. We especially recommend shopping around if you have other factors that may affect the cost of your insurance, as different companies will weigh these differently.

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Featured Image Credit: ElisaRiva, Pixabay