How Is Your Auto Insurance Policy Price Determined?

The average auto insurance policy price is derived from a variety of factors. Many of these variables are common knowledge and make sense for the most part but it’s always a good idea to refresh yourself with what insurance companies are looking for when determining how much your coverage will cost.

Driving Record – Your auto insurance policy price is determined from 6 major areas. The first is your driving record. The key thing to remember is the better your driving record the lower your total cost to insure your automobile. This would include auto accidents, speeding tickets and believe it or not if you’ve gone without insurance for several years. The good thing is that you can directly control many of these factors. Concentrate on keeping a clean driving record and this area shouldn’t cause your rates to be outrageous.

Coverage Amount – Do a self check sometime and call your insurance company up to see what impact raising and lowering your deductibles and coverage amount has on the price of your insurance. Raising a deductible lowers your monthly payment. Increasing the deductible has the opposite effect. The same goes for the actual coverage amounts.

Age – Case studious have proven that younger drivers are involved in more accidents then older drivers. This potential to be involved in a collision is a result of inexperience behind the wheel of an automobile. Generally speaking most insurance companies charge more for individuals under the age of 25.

Vehicle Model and Driving Mileage – If your interested in that fancy new sports car you may want to check how much it will effect your auto insurance policy price. Thanks in large part to theft, vehicular costs and safety records some cars rate a higher premium over other vehicles. As if it wasn’t bad enough the amount of annual miles you place on your vehicle through driving can increase your auto policy. The average used is 10,000 miles in a year. If you exceed that total then you can expect a rate increase based on your increased potential to be involved in an auto accident.

Your Residence – It’s a pretty safe bet that you’ll pay more for your auto insurance policy if you live in a big city when compared to a nice farm out in the country. The city probably has more thefts and accidents, which lead to higher costs absorbed by the insurance company and then passed along to the consumer when the insurance companies determine your auto insurance policy price.

Hopefully this information can help you focus in on some areas within your auto policy that you can review with your insurance agent in the hopes of actually lowering your auto insurance rates instead of raising them.