- Young drivers often face higher insurance premiums due to less driving experience and higher risk factors.
- Choosing the Right Coverage: It's crucial to select coverage that balances affordability with adequate protection, keeping in mind both immediate and future needs.
- Factors Affecting Costs: Elements like driving history, the type of car, and where you live can significantly impact your insurance rates.
- Ways to Lower Costs: Consider options like telematics (pay-as-you-drive) policies, maintaining a clean driving record, and choosing a car with lower insurance costs to reduce premiums.
- Long-term Benefits: Building a good driving record over time can lead to lower insurance costs as you gain more experience on the road.
There’s nothing quite like earning your driver's license (*cough* the legal, no ‘cooldrink’ way *cough*) and receiving the reward of unadulterated freedom.
You can celebrate your new status with a fun little road trip. Imagine becoming accustomed to driving while taking in dazzling sights! But we have a feeling those petrol prices might make you reconsider.
So, how else can a young driver enjoy this incredible milestone?
How about with a bit of responsibility (car insurance)? After all, it comes with great (horse) power.
Car insurance might be one of the best decisions you can make as a young driver. It’s an intangible asset that saves you money on premiums the longer you have it. Insurance is also a great way to protect your finances and minimise the blowback from theft, accidents and other types of damage to your car.
Learn more about car insurance for young drivers, and discover how Pineapple can save you up to 30% on your monthly premiums.
Buckle Up for Reality: Why Young Drivers Pay More
One day, someone decided to create a thing called a ‘risk profile’, and now, thanks to factors beyond your control, you have to pay a lot for car insurance.
What is a risk profile?
It is a calculator used to facilitate underwriting by quantifying the level of risk you, as a policyholder, pose. The higher the risk (the more likely you are to make a claim), the higher the policy’s price is.
Drivers under 25 are typically considered high-risk, given their limited driving experience and well-documented road accident history.
The following behaviours have been observed in young South African drivers:
- Inexperience
- Bravado (a sense of “invincibility”) or reckless driving
- Invulnerability fallacy (an “it won’t happen to me” mentality)
- Drunk or impaired driving
- Failure to wear a seatbelt
Other risk factors include your lifestyle, gender, and insurance type.
Late-night jol-riders and groovists are frowned upon by insurers and conservative neighbours alike.
Young drivers are typically out late at night when visibility is at its lowest, and drunk and tired drivers are out in droves. This is a recipe for collision catastrophe. Therefore, the risk is reflected in their monthly car insurance premiums.
And we desperately hope this next factor doesn’t start a gender war (sex riot?), but yes, your X-Y chromosomes may affect how much insurance will cost you.
Statistics have shown that female drivers are less likely to be involved in an accident than their male counterparts. In an article by News24, Eugene Herbert, CEO of Master Drive, said, “Males are responsible for 34.9% of fatal crashes while females are responsible for 9.9%.”
Thus, the ladies pay less for car insurance (sort of like those Ladies Night half-price specials at the club).
It's nothing personal; that’s just the way the wheel turns.
Shift Gears and Save Money: Tips for Young Drivers
So, are motorists doomed to pay steep monthly insurance until they’re older than 25? Thankfully, no.
Here are a few ways young South African drivers can save on their policy premiums:
- Compare different insurance quotes.
- Bundle on policies.
- Keep your insurance policy active.
- Consider choosing a higher excess amount.
- Drive a low-risk vehicle.
Comparison websites like Hippo allow you to receive quotes from multiple car insurance companies in minutes. This helps simplify the comparative process, saves time, and lets you choose the perfectly priced policy.
Another cost-effective option is bundling your insurance policies. Insurers typically offer cheaper rates for policyholders who take out multiple coverage plans (such as a house, car, and life) instead of insuring each separately.
Keeping your policy active simply means having an insurance plan in place for a considerable period.
As a young driver, your perceived inexperience works against you. However, having car insurance with no lapses (plus a clean driving record) helps demonstrate trustworthiness and increases insurability.
Increasing your excess amount is another way to attain affordable monthly premium fees. A higher excess may result in lower monthly premiums, meaning more savings.
But, a word to the wise: your excess should always be affordable enough that you’d be able to pay it in case you have to claim from your car insurance provider.
Not everyone has R15,000 lying around.
Lastly, insuring a low-risk car, i.e. a vehicle that’s not constantly featured on hijackers’ ‘Most Wanted’ list or a luxury supercar, can result in budget-friendly insurance fees.
Read our article to discover the cheapest cars to insure in SA.
Level Up Your Coverage: Finding the Right Policy
The policy you choose will also be a determining factor in how much your insurance fees will be. Limited car coverage plans, such as third-party (or liability) and third-party fire and theft insurance, are typically low-cost and are a great way to save on insurance.
However, it’s worth noting that what you save in premiums today, you might pay in repairs tomorrow.
Such is the nature of cheap insurance options.
However, a more robust policy like comprehensive car insurance might cost a bit more, but the benefits and coverage may be well worth the premium.
Take Pineapple’s comprehensive car insurance, for example.
For as little as R644 per month, you can insure your 2024 1.2l Suzuki Swift and receive protection against fire, theft/hijackings, accidental damage, third-party accidents and weather damage (including hail cover).
Plus, you can get up to 30% of your premiums back when you drive under 300 km monthly. We call that our Drive Less Get Blessed benefit, which rewards you with savings galore.
So, if you pay the above premium of R644 monthly, a 30% savings means R193.20 goes back into your pocket. In six months, that amount totals R1,159.20.
And in a year? Your savings will amount to R2,318.40!
That’s an entry-level cellphone, a shopping spree or money to invest in your favourite company’s shares.
Click here to get a quote in minutes and see how affordable your premium will be!
Hit the Road with Confidence: Next Steps
If you’re still hesitant to go down the car insurance route, we’re happy to hold your hand throughout the journey. After all, this might be your first real taste of grown-up responsibility 🥺.
Download our app or contact us via WhatsApp at 060 012 3771.
Our qualified, patient, and helpful agents are always up for a chat, especially if it leads to a sale (*wink*). Our team will respond with total openness to whatever information this article hasn’t already covered.
The call is yours to make.
And until then, please stay safe. Don’t wait for disaster to strike; take control of your financial freedom with Pineappe’s comprehensive cover.
Get that obligation-free quote now, and thank us later!
Please Note: The information provided above is for informational purposes only; you should not construe any such information as legal or financial advice.
Pineapple (FSP 48650) is underwritten by Old Mutual Alternative Risk Transfer Insure Limited, a licensed Non-Life Insurer and authorised FSP. T&Cs apply.
Team Pineapple
Team Pineapple comprises our company’s top talents, who are dedicated to creating clear, high-quality content on essential vehicle insurance topics. This diverse group, including actuaries, accountants, data scientists, and insurance professionals across South Africa, collaborates to produce enlightening and empowering articles.
Each piece is thoroughly researched, factually accurate, and rigorously reviewed to ensure quality.
*We say they’re the finest because we want them to keep writing for us!
