subject: Can A Defensive Driving Course Cut Insurance Rates? [print this page] The cost of auto insurance can be very expensive, especially for families with teen drivers who use their vehicles or for families who buy added protections such as extra liability or collision coverage. While you are required to have auto insurance, paying the monthly premiums can eat into your budget and many families are looking for ways to cut costs, especially during tough economic times. If you are in this situation and you are exploring options for reducing your car insurance bills, you may wish to look into taking a defensive driving course.
Will Taking a Defensive Driving Course Reduce Insurance Costs
Most people are aware that taking a defensive driving course can help you to avoid a rate increase if you receive a traffic ticket. In a typical moving violation case, you can take a defensive driving course to avoid points on your driving license record and to keep the history of the ticket off of your driving history. Since points and a ticket on the driving record cause insurance rates to go up, a defensive driving course prevents this from occurring. However, when you complete a defensive driving course under these circumstances, it isnt usually going to lower your insurance premiums- it just prevents them from going up.
If you take a defensive driving course voluntarily when you have not received a ticket, however, your insurance company may offer you a discount on the premiums that you are currently paying. In other words, they may lower the monthly or annual cost of your insurance- sometimes by as much as 10 percent on the liability portion of the premiums that you are paying for insurance. This can result in significant savings, especially if you have riskier drivers such as teen drivers that are insured under your policy.
Insurance companies will lower insurance premiums for those who take defensive driving courses because they believe that completion of one of these courses can make you a safer driver. Insurance companies set policy premiums based on what they perceive the risk of an crash is. In other words, the higher your chances of becoming involved in an auto crash and making a claim against your policy, the more you will pay for insuring your vehicle(s). When you take a defensive driving course, you learn important skills and techniques that make it less likely you will be involved in an auto collision. The risk of a claim being made is thus reduced, and your insurance company is comfortable charging you less because they do not feel that there is as strong of a chance that they will have to pay out money to you.
In order to enjoy the benefits of a defensive driving course reducing your insurance rates, it is important that you take an approved course. You should speak to your auto insurance provider both about whether taking defensive driving will lower your rates and about the requirements that must be fulfilled in order for the course to qualify you for a premium reduction.
by: Troy Caesar
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