Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Quotes for car insurance and what can affect them

One of the first things anyone should learn about car insurance is the set of the most important factors affecting car insurance quotes. Sure, by using common sense you can guess these factors on your own and base your decisions on what you think is right. However, the insurance industry doesn't always correspond to the common sense employed by most customers as there are particular rules that let insurers determine the risks and set the costs. So it's better to do a bit of homework before shopping for car insurance because it will save you a lot of time, nerve and help you to make more adequate decisions when comparing car insurance quotes. These are the primary factors that will affect your quotes with all insurance providers:
Coverage amount
It's obvious that the amount of coverage you choose with your policy as well as the types of coverage selected will directly affect your rates. So the more coverage you choose the more expensive the policy becomes. However, the $1000 per dollar of premium relation can differ a lot between providers, so you can never guess how exactly a slight change in the coverage will affect your final rates. That's why it's highly recommended comparing as many car insurance quotes as possible while tweaking the coverage amounts and options in order to see how exactly changes in coverage will affect your rates.
Driver profile
Comprising of a whole range of factors that all describe the driver trying to insure the car, this is a rather generalized definition. Fact is that your age, sex, marital status, education, employment and, and of course, driving record will all affect the quotes you get to a different degree. For example, drivers younger than 25 always get the highest rates, while women tend to get cheaper insurance than men. These are all demographic factors used by insurance companies with the goal of predicting possible risks associated with different demographic groups, and you can't do much about it but comply.
Place of residence
The place of residence, or the place of license plate registration to be more precise is one particular factor associated with the driver that needs to be outlined. Depending on the state your average car insurance quotes may differ a lot, because there are differences in requirements, regulation and business activity. Moreover, living in a small town or a large city within the same state will also deliver different quotes, as densely populated areas with heavy traffic always get higher quotes.
Vehicle
The most obvious factor is the vehicle you are trying to drive. But to much surprise, it doesn't have such a pronounced weight as one would expect. The car type, make and model will contribute a great deal to the quotes you'll get from the insurance company, however the other factors will also have a pronounced effect on the car insurance rates you'll be charged with. Still, there are general rules for different car types: sports cars, SUVs and luxury vehicles tend to cost more to insure, while safer family vehicles offer the best bargain.
Other factors
Different providers may employ other factors when calculating quotes for you. For example, some insurers use credit rating to determine the risk associated with every prospective client. Fortunately, the weight of these factors is usually minor, so they won't spoil the general picture much. Yet again, it may sometimes be useful to learn if the provider you're quoting with has any special factors used when calculating rates.