Auto Insurance Prices
The factors the influence auto insurance prices are more complicated than they've ever been. Today, insurance companies determine their rates each year by looking at statistics for which people have accidents, where the accidents happen, and in what specific part of each state or city the insured lives.
Use your auto insurance factors to your advantage; request a quote to lower your premium!
Factors such as age, type of car, driving record, and zip code play an obvious part in determining insurance rates – but less obvious factors come into play as well. Credit score and education level are controversial, yet often-used, variables. People who carry lower liability limits have been found statistically to have more accidents than people who carry the state minimum – as do people who carry only liability coverage, which doesn't include comprehensive or collision coverage.
Cutting coverage won't necessarily lower rates
In the past, once a car reached a certain age it was no longer worth it to keep comprehensive coverage on it. Now that insurance companies classify coverage into various rate tiers, dropping your full coverage could ironically result in higher rates.
States where auto insurance is especially expensive – including New Jersey and New York – have complicated rate tiers, which can be negatively impacted by the slightest change in your coverage, credit, or driving history.
How insurance prices are affected by risk
All insurance companies seek to make money by minimizing risk. Although you might not be able to change where you live, you can shop a lot of different insurance companies, and get quotes on different levels of coverage at each one.
Each and every insurance company structures its rates a little differently, so simply comparing companies may help to substantially lower your premiums. Don't assume the best rates will accompany the least coverage; compare several companies at several coverage levels, and then go with the one that provides the most peace of mind for the least amount of money.
Get the best rates by comparing insurance companies