Car Insurance Premiums By Age Brackets

It’s a well-known fact that age is one of the major factors that affect the cost of your car insurance premiums. Insurance companies take into account the likelihood that you’ll end up making a claim based on factors like your age, driving history, vehicle condition, and gender. There are three major age brackets that motorists are divided into: 16 to 25 years of age, above 25 years of age but lower than 65, and 65 years of age and above. Let’s break this information down further below.

 

Between 16 – 25 Years of Age

Crash statistics have consistently reported that drivers under 25 years of age are more prone to car accidents. However, gender plays a role here, too. According to MoneyCrashers, young female drivers incur lower rates more than male drivers of the same age. That’s because young female drivers are thought to be more responsible and careful than their male counterparts. Young male motorists on the other hand, are thought to be at more risk of getting involved in fatal traffic accidents, particularly with drunk driving cases. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) a majority of auto collisions are the leading cause of death for teens in the US. The CDC found that teenage boys were two times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than teenage girls. Because insurance companies reference these statistics, young male drivers are left with higher insurance premiums.

 

What You Can Do

If you’re male and under 25 years of age, you’ll have to live with the fact that your car insurance rates are going to be much higher than your sister’s, at least until you get past the 25-year mark. Think all you can do is wait it out until you qualify for another age bracket? Not true. There are plenty of measures you can take to help drive those premiums down.

 

For one, better grades will help a lot. Car insurance companies tend to believe students who have better grades will be more careful than other males of the same age when they get behind the wheel, which means lower chances of getting into an accident. Some companies also offer discounts to students with high grades so take advantage of those offers. So if you’ve got the grades, use them. You can also sign up for safety driving courses. This will also lower the astronomical costs of your car insurance premiums.

 

Between 25 – 65 Years of Age

Based on current statistical data, rates are about even among men and women in this age bracket. Insurance rates for men go down once they reach 25 years of age. It’s the same for women, with about a 24 percent reduction for women from ages 21-25, showing a marked difference in car insurance rates by age, according to insurance sites like CoverHound. In addition, women aged 55 seem to pay the lowest premium of all, with women between the ages of 25 and 55 seeing a 19 percent drop in their car insurance costs. The idea is that drivers are more careful and are less likely to get into an accident because they have families of their own and are likely to drive more responsibly with kids in the car.

 

What You Can Do

Interestingly enough, statistical data shows that married men and women around this age are more careful on the road. If you want to get even lower car premiums, make sure you declare your marital status. That’s going to come across as a great reason for car insurance companies to grant you lower rates. This is especially great for married women. In a report published by the New York Times, car insurance premiums were 68 percent lower if you were a woman, married, with a college degree and the owner of a home.

 

Between 65 Years of Age and Above

The older you are, the lower your car insurance rates go. That’s basically true—at least until you hit your 60s. When you enter the senior citizen age bracket, you’ll see your car insurance rates increase again. That’s because senior citizens tend to get into more accidents than middle-aged drivers. According to the Insurance Information Institute (III) in 2013 alone, drivers 65 and older accounted for 17 percent of all traffic fatalities. Due to the numbers, insurance premiums rise.

 

However, when you compare the rates between older women and older men, the latter tend to have lower premiums. Crash data suggests that older women get into more driving scrapes—minor ones only—than older men.

 

What You Can Do

Driving records will always play a bit factor. If you’ve got little to zero driving accidents on your record, your insurance rates can go down. However, little else can be done to lower your premiums once you get into your latter years. So enjoy those years of low insurance costs while they last.