If you add a teen driver to your insurance policy, you can expect your insurance premium to go up an average of 86 percent in New Jersey.

Teen Drivers
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That's according to new data by InsuranceQuotes.com.

"Unfortunately, crash rates are four times higher for 16 to 19 year olds than for older drivers," said Laura Adams, Senior Insurance Analyst for InsuranceQuotes.com. "Because of this, teens are the most risky and expensive to insure."

While the costs vary widely from state to state, the average that a married couple is going to pay for car insurance after adding a teenage driver to their policy is 84 percent nationally.

"New Jersey is not too much higher than the national average. Policies in Arkansas are going up 116 percent, more than double, just for adding a teen driver. Utah, Wyoming, Alabama and Idaho round out the top five where adding a teen driver is really going to hit your wallet the most," said Adams. "The lowest state is Hawaii where it only costs 18 percent more to add a teen driver."

State to state, regulations on the factors insurers use to determine rates vary. In Hawaii, there are very few restrictions.

"They can't use a driver's age, gender or even the length of their driving experience as a factor in setting rates," said Adams.

As a teen ages, it gets less expensive to add them to an auto insurance policy.

"The rate increase goes down year after year," said Adams. "So, it may not be a bad idea to wait until the teen gets older. It will save a little bit of money. Another thing is that male drivers are the most expensive in the teenage years to insure. On average, you're talking about a 96 percent increase for a male teen driver. But, it's only 72 percent higher for a female driver."

There also are good student discounts for teen drivers.

"If they can maintain a B average, in some cases, that can reduce your premium by up to 25 percent," said Adams. "Regardless, it's important to shop around and get multiple quotes so you can compare apples to apples and take advantage of all the discounts that are available."

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