How to Get a Discount on Senior Auto Insurance

Auto Insurance is like climbing a mountain. When you are young, car insurance is expensive. As you get older, the insurance premium starts to go down with each age milestone you pass. When you are declared a senior, you have reached the mountain top, and as you go down it; your auto insurance starts to increase.

Keeping Senior Auto Insurance Affordable

Insurance companies believe that as people age into senior citizens, their reflexes and concentration are diminished. The insurance company considers senior citizens at a higher risk for an accident. Therefore, they will increase the auto premium to a point that the elderly may not be able to afford insuring their vehicle.

The first step in keeping senior car insurance affordable is to stay as safe a driver as possible, and to know when it is time to hand the wheel over to someone else. When my mother-in-law decided she was no longer a safe driver, she had me placed on her insurance policy as the primary driver of her car. She could still drive the car occasionally, but I drove the car for her most of the time.

Her insurance policy was rated according to my age, because I was the primary driver. This helped to keep her rates down while she still owned and insured her own vehicle.

If this is not an option for you, there are other ways to get discounted auto insurance to better help senior citizens afford keeping a car.

Senior Programs to Discount Auto Insurance

There are senior programs that will help keep auto insurance affordable. Check with the local Senior Citizens Center to see if they offer a defensive driving course for seniors. These courses are usually offered through the Department of Motor Vehicles and will help reinforce and assess the driving skills of the elderly person.

Your insurance company may offer a discount because you took and passed this course. Check with your insurance agent to see if they do offer discounts for seniors who take the defensive driving course.

Being a member of the AARP (American Association of Retired People) will give access to discounted car insurance and several other benefits for those over 50 years of age. You can join the AARP online and have immediate access to search their website for discounted auto insurance for senior citizens.

It may also be possible to get discounted insurance for an elderly person by reducing the amount of miles the car is driven per year. Talk to your agent and ask what they can offer to help keep the car insurance discounted for seniors.

Sources:

AARP

Senior Journal