Car insurance is expensive, and is even more so when you are trying to cover a teen driver. Insurance costs for young or inexperienced drivers can be as much as ten times those for older drivers with more years behinds the wheel. You can reduce those costs somewhat, though, by encouraging your teen to take driver education courses.

Benefits of Driver Education

While the main benefit of driver’s education is obvious – learning how to handle a car, maneuver in traffic and understand the rules of the road is extremely important for drivers of any age. But taking formal driving lessons can also benefit your bank account, since many insurance carriers offer discounts for those who take driver’s education.

The rates of discounts vary according to the company policies. For example, some companies waive the premium assessed for driving on a learner’s permit when customers take driver’s education through one of their partners. Once the course is completed, the regular charge for coverage under a parent or guardian’s policy received a discount.

If your teen purchases his or her own car insurance, successfully completing a driver’s education program guarantees a discount of between 10 and 20% off of the annual premium for the first five years of accident free coverage. This could mean a savings of up to 1,000 Euros over that time.

And since the chances of an accident increase while a teen is learning to drive, many insurance companies offer free additional bonus insurance coverage to parents while the teen is taking driving lessons. This provides parents with peace of mind knowing that if something happened while their teen was learning to drive on a permit, any claims would be covered by the insurance company.

How Driver’s Education Works

As of 2011, drivers in Ireland are required to complete at least 12 hours of structured driver training before they can take the driver’s license exam. In some cases, insurance carriers offer their own driver’s education courses.

Driving schools vary on the specific content of each course, but most schools offer similar training programs. In most cases, the student and the school follow a prescribed lesson plan covering the basics of driving – accelerating, stopping, parking, speed management, following the rules of the road, etc. – and the student and instructor both sign off on the lesson plan after each session.

The law requires that driver’s training is completed within six months. Most training programs provide for lessons every two weeks, giving the student time to practice between lessons.

Once the lessons are completed, the driving instructor will forward the completed lesson plan to the Driving Instructor Register (D.I.R.) who will then validate the course and send a completed certificate. After the certificate is received, the student can then take the licensing exam and apply for insurance coverage.

Even though driver’s education is required, and does qualify drivers for discounts on insurance, it is expensive. On average, a driver’s education course costs about 400 Euros – each lesson has an individual cost, although you can buy lesson packages. Individual lessons generally run between 25 and 35 Euros per hour, although most schools offer free lessons if you purchase them in a block. The cost of driver’s education pays for itself through the reduction in insurance costs over time. Shop around and compare driver education schools in your area to find one that fits your budget.

Choosing a Program

With the change in the law regarding driver’s education, the number of driving schools and courses has increased. Before choosing a program, carefully consider the curriculum and instructor quality – and confirm that the government and your insurance provider recognize the program you are looking into. Insurance providers don’t certify all driving schools and if you don’t do your homework, you may have to look into another company for your teen’s insurance coverage plus forfeit the benefits of family and other discounts.
With the costs of auto insurance – and just about everything else – rising all the time, finding ways to save money is of the utmost importance. Discuss teen driver rates and education options with your insurance agent or broker, and find the plan that works best for your family. A good driver’s education program will not only save you money, but will also help you feel more confident letting your teen drive on his or her own.

This post was written and provided by Tommy Riley.  Tommy has been in the car business for several years.  Tommy is a full time father and freelance writer for Quoteme.ie.

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Tags: Approved Driving Instructor, Driver's Education, insurance, Vehicle insurance

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 8:44 am and is filed under Guests Posts, How To. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.