Factors That Will Affect Your Rates

By Author: Marcus Stalder
Total Articles: 491
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There are a lot of factors that affect auto insurance rates. And even if you're trying to insure the same car as your neighbor with the same company, there's a high chance of having different premiums in the end. There are a lot of variables that auto insurance companies use in order to evaluate the risk they're undertaking when insuring a particular customer. And if a particular factor may seem to you like none of importance, it may be an important variable for the insurance company to set a particular premium for you. So if you still wonder what factors play an important role in auto insurance providers' calculations, here they are:

Age

The younger you are the higher will be your premiums. This is especially important for those who are younger than 25. Teen drivers statistically have the largest number of insurance claims and serious accidents. Those who are aged between 50 and 65 usually have the best driving records and hence the lowest premiums.

Gender

No matter how sexist this may sound, women are statistically better drivers than men and are granted with lower rates respectively.

Marital ...
... status

Married people tend to take fewer risks when being behind the wheel than single individuals. That's why married drivers usually get better rates.

While these factors are certainly not as easy to influence, they are very important when your rates are calculated. Still, there are more factors, some of them can be changed. So if you're looking for a really affordable auto insurance policy, here are some variables to consider:

Place of residence

It may come as a surprise but your place of residence has a strong impact on your auto insurance rates. People living in areas with heavy traffic and high car theft rates (large urban areas) tend to have higher rates than car owners in rural areas. Besides, medical and repair costs may differ from one area to another and auto insurance companies will set their rates respectively.

Driving record

If you have serious traffic violations, accidents or other negative entries in your driving record then your auto insurance rates won't be low. So it will be a very good reason to keep your record as clean as possible. Some auto insurance providers can even reject your application if your driving record is too poor.

Car

Should it be a surprise that an expensive car will cost you much more to insure than a cheap vehicle. Repair costs, safety features and theft rates are also very important. That's why all companies have special charts with each car make and model available on the market. So if you want to get cheap auto insurance make sure to get an insurance-friendly vehicle.

Insurance claims

If you have filed an insurance claim before, your rates will certainly be higher than if you haven't. Moreover, your rates may change even after getting an insurance policy and filing a claim.

Credit rating

A large part of auto insurance companies are using credit ratings as a way to asses risks with potential customers. The higher is the rating, the lower is the risk for the driver to file a claim. So if you have a poor credit score expect your rates to be higher.