You won’t be able to escape a considerable rate increase when you add a teen driver to your car insurance policy, but there are ways to minimize the hit to your wallet.

Keep your teen on your policy

Parents looking for the cheapest car insurance should be aware that it’s usually less expensive to add a teenager to a parent’s auto insurance policy rather than putting the teen on their own policy. If you’re in doubt, though, have your insurance agent run quotes for both scenarios or compare quotes online for the total cost of two separate policies. Quotes are free, so there’s no downside to checking which way is cheapest.

Make sure you’re getting discounts

Common discounts relevant to teens include good student discounts (typically for a B average or above) and, for college students, a “student away at school” discount. If the student attends school 100 miles or more away from home, without a car, you can qualify for a price break on their rates.

In addition, teen driver insurance programs can provide both a discount and valuable driving skills training. Keeping accidents off a teen’s record will safeguard your future rates.

Shop around

This is the time to compare car insurance quotes, especially if you haven’t done so in a few years. For example, among the companies we analyzed in California, rates for two parents and one 16-year-old ranged from nearly $2,000 a year (USAA) to over $6,000 a year (Nationwide and Kemper), for a policy with typical coverage of $100,000 bodily injury liability coverage per person and $300,000 per accident.

Wait it out

Car insurance rates will generally start dropping around age 25. See Low Cost Advisor’s analysis of auto insurance rates by age and gender.

Related: The Best Car Insurance Companies