subject: Factors That Affect The Rate Of Your Car Insurance Premiums [print this page] When deciding how much your car insurance premiums will be, your car insurance company will take several factors into consideration. Some of these factors are in your control, and others are not...
Location, location, location : Your insurance premiums are affected by how an insurance company rates the city you live in, or even the particular street that you live on. Whether this works out in your favor or not is a bit of a lottery. The zip code of the area where you live, and the immediate areas around it, is evaluated in terms of the number of accidents that take place there each year and the number of vehicles that were vandalized or stolen. Moving to the other side of town could literally see you saving yourself a small fortune on how much you pay for insurance.
Your car : You can significantly reduce how much insurance you pay by opting to drive a different make and / or model. It might seem a drastic step, but your current car could be costing you thousands of extra dollars each year unnecessarily. You want to choose a car that is less likely to be stolen, for example.. A car with inbuilt safety features will save you money in the long run too, as you will be less likely to be in an accident.
Driving record : Essentially, the better your driving record is, the cheaper your car insurance premiums will be. This is because you will be considered a low-risk driver; one who is unlikely to cause an accident. You can take steps to repair a bad previous record though, so do not worry if you have changed from your previous bad ways. The more time that has passed between your last offence and the present day, the less bearing your past offences will have. Also, you can take an advanced driving course to show that you are now a better driver.
Your work : You will probably have to pay higher car insurance premiums if your job requires you to do a lot of driving. Those who are retired, work from home, etc. drive less, and so are entitled to discounts. Whilst changing your occupation to reduce your car insurance premium is not really sensible, there are a couple of things that you can do. Using public transport more often is one option and asking your company to provide you with a company car is another.
So, if you think that you are paying too much for your car insurance then consider which of those factors is responsible and try to address it. You should let your insurance company know as soon as any positive changes are made in relation to any of these factors. The sooner you tell them, the sooner they will reduce your insurance premiums.
by: Mark Walters
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