Finding the perfect insurance rate doesn’t have to be intimidating. However, drivers should understand that there are five factors that have a huge impact on the cost of auto insurance. Often, in an attempt to lower their costs, many drivers choose to lower coverage which is fine as long as you never have an accident. One way to do this is by increasing your deductibles, which basically means that you are “self-insuring” for the deductible. For instance you might save $100 a year on your premium by increasing your deductible by $1000. So if you have less than one accident every 10 years you will come out ahead.
But it’s important to know that there are many other ways to save money and understanding the factors that influence insurance rates is important. Some factors can be controlled while many others cannot.
Marital Status
One of the factors that affect insurance rates is, believe it or not, a driver’s marital status. According to experts, statistics show that people who are married are less likely to be involved in an accident.
Statistics show that single men are much more likely to get into an accident than both single women and people who are married. For someone who has a perfect driving record, getting married could easily cut the cost of auto insurance in half.
Location
The area that a driver lives in is actually a factor that helps determine insurance costs. Statistics show that the majority of traffic accidents take place near the driver’s home.
Therefore, if you live in an area that doesn’t have a huge population, you can save money. Areas that have a larger population typically have a higher occurrence of accidents and theft, which also increases insurance costs.
Age and Gender
Statistics show that young males are likely to pay more for auto insurance than young females. Male teenagers are much more likely to be involved in an auto accident than female teenagers. However, statistics also show that older males are less likely to be involved in an auto accident than older females.
Occupation
What a person does for a living is a factor that is used to determine how much money a person will pay for auto insurance. There are correlations between occupations and accident risk.
For example, journalists and delivery drivers are always driving, so they’re much more likely to be involved in an accident. On the flip side, an airline pilot will likely spend very little time on the road, so they shouldn’t have to pay as much as delivery drivers or journalists.
Credit Score
Although many people might not understand how a credit score relates to insurance, this is a factor that most insurance companies use. A person with a low credit score will likely pay more for insurance than someone who has a perfect credit score. Perhaps they’ve found that people with higher credit scores are more responsible overall and less likely to drive irresponsibly. But more likely they have simply found a mathematical correlation and aren’t even concerned with why.
When searching for auto insurance, it’s important to understand that these five factors will influence how much money you pay, so if you can improve any of them, you should do so before finding insurance.
See Also:
- Beware of Bad Drivers and Insurance Scams
- Tips for Buying Car Insurance
- How Much Car Insurance Do I Need?
- 4 Key Questions to Ask When Doing Your Auto Insurance Research
