4 Factors That Affect Your Car Insurance Rate
Posted on: 16 November 2015
If you are like most people, you will shop around for car insurance providers before you buy to find the lowest rate. However, the amount that you pay for car insurance will be affected by much more than the insurance company that you choose. Here are four factors that can have an impact on your car insurance rate.
How Frequently & How Far You Drive
Insurance companies want to pay out as infrequently as possible. Because of this, they analyze several factors to estimate how likely you are to get in an accident. But no matter what kind of driver you are, your chances of being in an accident are higher the more often you are on the road. The further you drive and the more hours you drive each day, the higher your auto insurance rates will be.
This will have the biggest impact on people who have long daily commutes, as they are on the road for a longer time than people whose workplaces are nearer to their homes. You can get an idea of what you can expect to pay by giving insurance brokers an estimate number of how many miles you drive on a normal day.
The Likelihood of Theft Based on Your Vehicle Model
It is an unfortunate fact that some vehicle models are more attractive to thieves than others. If you own a vehicle on the top 10 list of most commonly stolen vehicles, you can expect your insurance company to charge a higher rate to cover the risk of your vehicle being stolen.
Your Vehicle's Safety Features
In addition to taking the model of your vehicle into consideration, insurance companies will ask how many optional safety features your vehicle has. This includes both features that make it less likely that your vehicle will be in an accident, as well as features that reduce the likelihood of injury for passengers in the vehicle.
Examples of interior safety features that could decrease your car insurance rate include automatic seatbelts, driver- and passenger-side airbags, and other passive-restraint systems (systems that drivers or passengers do not have to manually activate in the event of an accident). Anti-lock brakes and daytime running lights are external safety features that reduce the chances of an accident and can lower your rate.
Where You Live & Store Your Vehicle
It stands to reason that the more populated the roads you drive on are, the more likely you are to get in an accident. This is especially true if you live in a populous area, as 69 percent car accidents take place within 10 miles from the driver's home. Drivers who live in larger cities pay more for car insurance than drivers in rural areas. Densely populated areas also result in more vehicle theft, another factor that can drive up your insurance rate.
The number of people in your area and the type of vehicle you have are not the only factors that influence likelihood of theft. Many insurance companies will ask how you store your vehicle when you aren't driving it. A car that sits inside a locked garage will always be safer from theft, and therefore less expensive to insure, than one that is parked in an open driveway.
Car insurance companies use a complex process that examines several variables to determine how much each customer will pay for their insurance policy. If you know about the factors that can affect your car insurance rate when you are buying a new vehicle, you can make a good estimation of how much you should expect to pay. Contact insurance companies like Harris Insurance Services to start comparing rates to find your ideal option.
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