What is the Allstate Good Student Discount?

When teens start driving they have reached a big milestone, and along with it comes a blend of excitement and fear, especially on the part of parents. Aside from the legal requirement for every licensed driver to have insurance, good coverage also provides essential peace of mind in terms of accident protection. Insurance for teens is expensive, however, available discounts for teenage driver insurance can help substantially defray the costs.

Allstate Insurance offers discounts for good students, and parents should not be shy about mentioning their children’s good grades since they may receive the reward of a large discount on their policy premiums.

Allstate Auto Insurance

Allstate Insurance is the number two auto insurance company in the United States in terms of size. Founded in 1931, the company began as a division of Sears, Roebuck & Co. Allstate continued to grow over time and became a company in its own right, with a public stock offering in 1995. Headquartered in Northfield Township, Illinois, Allstate has become one of the most well known and respected insurance companies in the nation. The company prides itself on offering customers several well-planned programs of auto insurance that provide great coverage, including many options and discounts as well as rewards. The company slogan is, “Are you in good hands?” and Allstate wants to ensure that its customers truly feel that they are in good hands.

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The Allstate Good Student Discount Defined

If a person is 25 years or younger, not married and meets the Allstate good grades discount requirements, he or she has the opportunity to save up to 20% on auto insurance premiums.

How to Get the Allstate Good Student Discount

To get the discount, the Allstate Good Student Discount form must be completed with information about the student and returned. The student must be younger than 25 years of age, and must also meet either full-time high school or college enrollment conditions, or must have attended school full-time for at least two consecutive years. In this case, the student will have to meet other requirements, such as a B-grade average or placement on the Dean’s list, or ranked in the upper 20% of his or her class academically. To verify this information, a school official must sign the certificate with his or her full name and title. The student must also sign and date the certificate.

Other Allstate Car Insurance Discounts for Students

There is also an Allstate student discount for students that live away at school at least 100 miles from home. This discount provides up to 30% off of premiums. Additionally, there are many other Allstate auto discounts, such as 10% off for paying an annual policy in full, 5% discount for setting up automatic payments online, and more than a dozen other discount opportunities

Teen Driver Programs

Allstate has many resources on its website dedicated to educating teens and parents about teen driving. Parents and teens should know about the accident statistics related to activities such as sending or receiving text messages on a cell phone. If this activity is done while driving, it makes a person 23 times more likely to crash according to a study done by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA.)

Allstate has its own foundation that works with youth safety leaders and traffic safety across the nation to keep teens and other drivers safe on the road. A few sobering yet informative facts about teen driving follow below, provided on Allstate’s website and researched by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS.)

• In the US, car accidents are the leading cause of death of individuals in the 1-to- 34-year age group
• Teenagers get involved in crashes four times more frequently than any other group of drivers
• Car accidents are the number one cause of teenage deaths
• Each day, an average of 11 teen lives are taken by car crashes
• More than 4000 teens died in car accidents in 2008
• Over the past five years, May 20 has trended as the most deadly day for teens driving on the road
• Of all teen related car accident deaths in 2008, 20% happened between 9 PM and midnight

Graduated Driver Licensing

Graduated driver licensing, or GDL, has proven to save teen lives. The system designed a process to help young drivers phase into their full driving privilege gradually, in order to gain experience behind the wheel and develop driving skill in conditions that have lower risk. Research has shown that implementing a strong GDL system reduces teen accident rates up to 40%.

The three-stage system includes the learner’s stage, the intermediate stage and the un-restricted driving stage. In the learner’s stage, drivers need to attain the age of 16 years to get a learner’s permit. They must hold the permit for six months, and have at least 30 to 50 hours of supervised driving completed. Additionally, all electronic communication devices are banned except in the case of emergencies.

The intermediate stage allows a restricted or provisional driver’s license for drivers at least 16 years of age, for a 6-month period. Restrictions include night driving and the age and number of passengers allowed, with all electronic communication devices banned except for emergencies. Once a driver reaches her 18th birthday, she gains eligibility for the unrestricted driver’s license.

How to Save Money on Car Insurance for Young Drivers

Adding young drivers to an insurance policy increases policy rates, without a doubt. One female teenager can double insurance rates, while a male teen driver may triple insurance rates. However, there is hope. Saving money on insurance for teens becomes easier when parents take advantage of all the discounts Allstate offers. By combining multiple discounts, and encouraging teens to drive safely, insurance rates can receive substantial reductions.

Even if a teen has difficulty maintaining a B-average or better to qualify for the good student discount, other ways to save exist. If the teen completes additional drivers education, Allstate may reduce premiums up 10%. Putting off a driver’s license, and having teens continue driving with a permit for a while also helps save because they are usually covered under existing insurance.

Additionally, factor insurance costs in when choosing the type of car the teen will drive. Balance the newness of the car and availability of modern safety feature enhancements, with a car that is not so new that repairs become unreasonably expensive. Also, keep in mind that sports cars or an SUV will cost more to insure.

Compare car insurance quotes from multiple companies to make sure you’re getting the best deal.