Nov 09
adminArticles Accidents, Aggressive Manner, Car Insurance, Cars, Female Drivers, Insura, Insurance, Insurance Companies, Insurance Industry, Insurance Rates, Male Counterparts, Male Drivers, Men And Women, Men Women, Premiums, Quite Some Time, Relative Percentage, Risk, Vehicle Insurance, Wheel
If you have been dealing with vehicle insurance for quite some time now and asked your friends about their rates you’ve probably observed that different groups of customers may have different rates even if they drive identical cars. That’s due to the fact that insurance companies use both age and gender as one of the main factors when calculating rates for each client. And if age is something that changes gradually, gender is a factor that you cannot change (without the help of a professional surgeon) and will have to live with it. What’s the problem, you might ask?
Well, some people find it unfair that female drivers usually have lower premiums that their male counterparts even when driving identical cars, living in the same area, having same credit ratings and driving records. And despite the fact that it may look quite discriminatory there’s a set of reasons for this to take place in the insurance industry.
First of all, female drivers tend to file far less claims then men. Some of you might state that there are less women behind the wheel than men and that’s why the number is lower. But even if taken in relative percentage, women tend to get in less accidents then men. This is largely explained by a less aggressive manner of driving most women employ, which leads to less exposure to risk that can lead to an accident. Men, on the other hand, tend to take far more risks when behind the wheel and this often leads to insurance claims.
Moreover, the character of claims filed by female drivers is often different from those filed by men. Women rarely get involved in serious accidents with severe damage or injuries. The majority of claims are rather minor and do not lead to serious expenses. Whereas men usually get in more serious accidents that involve higher costs. That is also explained by the risk-taking nature of male drivers and cautious driving style most women employ.
So when a woman purchases car insurance her rates are usually lower because the insurance companies regard female drivers as a lower risk as compared to male driver of the same age. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that all women are better drivers and never get involved in an accident. They do, but the majority of women simply file less claims. It’s the same as with teen drivers. There are teens that drive cars very well and never take risks but they still have to pay higher premiums because the majority of younger drivers get involved in accidents far more often than other age groups.
Of course, making your Сar Insurance more affordable by changing this factor alone is impossible. However, there are other factors you can affects such as your credit rating or driving record. The car you drive also has a serious weight in rate calculations. So if you feel like your insurance policy is a bit too expensive because you’re a male driver there are ways to make the policy even cheaper than for female drivers.
Sep 05
adminArticles Alcohol, Auto Insurance, Car Insurance, City Streets, College Students, Collision Statistics, Collisions, Drunk Drivers, Fatigue, High Schoolers, Highways, Inexperienced Drivers, Insurance School, Mid Twenties, Money Books, School Insurance, School Year, Stress, Suburban Environment, Urban Environment
The school year is here again for college students across the United States. You know what that means? Spending. Yes, you’ll be paying a lot of money: books, tuition, housing, alcohol, and insurance. At least one of those things doesn’t have to be so expensive.
Learn how students can reduce the price of car insurance below.
STUDENTS FACING VARYING HIGH COSTS
College students will see some of the highest rates for insurance that exist. They are not as high as what high schoolers are charged on average, but they are pretty close. The reasons for these rates are down to the unique risks of college life and college towns:
- high numbers of inexperienced drivers
- many high-stress drivers
- busy schedules mean rushing
- congested parking situations
- increased risk of encountering drunk drivers
- more likely to be driving late at night
- higher theft rates
Of course, not all situations are the same. In reality, rates are more highly dependent on the actual collision statistics coming out of the college town than the fact that it is a student on the policy. Certain factors may alter the anticipated costs of insurance.
For instance, if a student’s school is in an urban environment, it is going to be more expensive than were the school to be in a rural or suburban environment. If the school is an a bad part of town with higher theft rates, you should anticipate paying more for insurance than if the town were safer.
Commuting to school rather than living there only partly removes you from this risk. You will still be driving in the same city, but you also have added risks of driving the roads in between. This may also make you more likely to be involved in collisions due to fatigue, stress, and hurrying on the highways or the city streets.
STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING COSTS
Most students can reduce their cost of auto insurance by simply staying on or joining a parental policy. Most companies will allow this until students are in their mid twenties. Combining policies disperses the risk and counters the increase in rates from the student with a group policy discount.
Good students will also benefit from good grades. Not all companies offer this discount, so search hard with auto insurance quotes for a company that does value this trait in customers. The logic behind the good grades discount is that responsible students prove to be responsible drivers.
Alternatively, students could simply not drive. For commuters, this is not really possible, but you could also look into carpooling. Even driving a lower number of miles annually could save hundreds of dollars.
No matter what you choose to do, use auto insurance quotes to do your shopping. There’s no better way to save time or money. Get started with this site by seeing our insurance provider list and getting instant quotes online. Make sure the quotes are for the coverage levels suitable to your needs. Be very careful to use only the most accurate, precise information – otherwise your quotes won’t be accurate. Factor in discounts and claims records, to be sure you have a good long-term partner, then compare the pros and cons to choose a provider.
Jun 09
adminArticles Accidents, Alcohol, Bus Route, Car Insurance, City Crime, Home Address, Hot Spot, Inner City, Insurance Companies, Insurance Company, Insurance Quotes, Insurer, Journeys, Late Night, Maximum Discounts, Mileage, Peak Times, Possibilities, Questionnaire, Wheels
The insurance companies will always reward you for driving less. If you rarely put wheels on the road, the chances of a claim are small and all your premium will be “profit to the insurer. So how does this work? In theory, it could not be more simple. The insurance company looks at who you are, when you drive and where you drive in deciding how much of a risk you represent. If you live 50 miles from your work and have a daily commute along a busy Interstate, the chances of an accident are high. But if you live on a bus route to work and only use your vehicle for odd journeys at off-peak times, the chances of an accident are small. When you answer the questionnaire, you will see questions covering these possibilities. Remember, if you get caught out in dishonest answers, the insurer will cancel your policy and leave you without any coverage.
The first question is where you live. Although some states like California have outlawed setting rates according to your zip code, the majority of companies focus on your home address. If there’s a high accident or theft rate among people living in your area, you will all pay a higher premium. The only choice, if you can afford it, is to live some place where the crime and accidents rates are lower. You look for the middle ground between the worst inner city crime hot spot and a house on the prairie where you never see another vehicle from one day’s end to the next. All the discounts favor drivers who only drive off-peak during the day, and restrict their annual mileage. No more late night and early morning driving when the majority of other drivers may be tired or affected by alcohol and/or drugs. This raises the question of monitoring. It’s easy to answer the questionnaire and claim the maximum discounts. But the trend among insurers is to ask people to drop their vehicle in for a regular inspection of the recorded mileage. The maximum discounts are given to the drivers who agree to devices being installed which collect all the data on driving and transmit it to the insurers. These devices have a GPS element that records where you drive, the time and, in some cases, some measurement of the quality of your driving, e.g. how often you brake. The reward for accepting this invasion of your privacy can be discounts of up to 25% on top of the usual discounts. Obviously, it’s not a good idea to use your own vehicle to rob a bank since the insurance company will know you were there.
This set of discounts is somewhat frustrating. In the larger cities with well-developed public transport, it’s usually not too much trouble to get where you want on time without using your own vehicle. Assuming your vehicle is safely in a garage to reduce the risk of theft, you should break even or better, i.e. what you save on the insurance pays for your use of buses and trains. But the most of the US has poor public transport, so there’s little choice. Remember the car insurance quotes are not the final word. Call the company, explain your circumstances and discuss how you might qualify for discounts. In discussion, you often discover options not included in the website. So, treat the car insurance quotes as the opening offer and start negotiating. Investing a little time often saves you money.
May 23
adminArticles Buying Stocks, Car Insurance, Cheap Money, Credit Cards, Credit Rating Agencies, Credit Score, Credit Scores, Debts, Family Budget, Finding The Money, Friends And Neighbors, Insurance Companies, Insurance Premium, Landlords, Midst, Recession, Responsible Person, Risky Investments, Sacrifices, Short Time
When you look around your neighborhoods, it’s hard to find any good news. Friends and neighbors may have lost their jobs or be on short-time. There are foreclosed properties on every street. Shops and businesses have been closing down with increasing frequency. These are the signs of a real recession where unemployment and poverty stalk the land. The cause of all this pain is not hard to find. We have all been living beyond our means. When the banks and credit card companies offered us more money to borrow, we just took it. Why bother to save when the value of our homes only goes up? Let’s plan for our retirement by borrowing cheap money and buying stocks and other more risky investments. No-one ever loses if they follow the advice of the credit rating agencies. Well, we know better now. What goes up can also come down. What is given a triple A rating can be junk tomorrow.
In the midst of all this chaos, the credit card operators have been cutting back on the borrowing limits. This has forced pain on us for two reasons. Firstly, finding the money to pay down our debts more quickly means redesigning the family budget. Sacrifices have to be made. Secondly, the way the credit score is calculated depends in part on the extent to which we use the credit cards we have. If the limits are reduced, we look like bad risks because the amount borrowed is closer to the limit. We have less money available to borrow and cut down on card usage so we can repay faster. Put the two together and the score falls. This is a direct criticism of the methods used to calculate the scores. It produces a fundamentally unfair result during a recession.
This would not be a problem if the credit score was only used by banks and credit card operators. But it’s also used by companies to help decide whether to employ you, by landlords deciding whether to rent to you and by insurance companies deciding whether you are a responsible person. National figures show more than half all insurance companies use credit scores as a key factor in deciding your premium rate. This is extraordinary. There is only one possible effect of being in debt when it comes to the way in which you drive. If you cannot afford to repair your vehicle, you drive defensively to reduce the risk of an accident.
Some states like California and Massachusetts have banned the use of credit score for this purpose, but they are a minority. They cite discrimination as a reason for the ban. The majority of the population without access to banking services and credit cards fall into minority racial groups. When they do not have a credit score, they are forced to pay a higher premium simply because of who they are, not how they drive. So, when you are looking for affordable cover, get the maximum possible number of car insurance quotes to find the best policies. If you live in a state which refuses the regulation of the car insurance market, contact your local government representatives and tell them how much pain you are suffering because of this unfair use of credit scores.
May 22
adminArticles Business Arrangement, Car Insurance, Car Ownership, Carpool, Credit Crunch, Crisis Management, Excuse, Insurer, Journey, Journeys, Losses, Medical Costs, Minimum Liability, Neighbors, Recession, Second Thought, Taxi, Twelve Months, Urban Sprawl, Vehicle Owner
Urban sprawl never used to be an issue. Even though the latest development might be miles from where you work or the nearest shops, this was never a problem. Most families owned two vehicles. Some three or more. No-one walked. Everyone just jumped in the nearest vehicle and off they went without a second thought until the price of gas rocketed up. Now we have the credit crunch and a recession just bottoming out. Car ownership has become an expensive proposition. Too expensive for some who have been reborn as a one-car family to cut their losses. The first step in crisis management is to find out which of your vehicles is the cheapest make and model to insure. Now balance that against the likely costs of maintenance and repair over the next twelve months. And which will sell for the highest price? When you know which vehicle you are keeping, maximize the number of discounts on the policy, including bundling auto and home together with the same insurer. Except, one vehicle for a busy family may not be practical. What are the options?
Many families talk to their neighbors and work out a carpool. This is reasonably easy to organize for routine journeys. But there is one slight problem. If you are going to carry passengers, you should have insurance to pay their medical costs should they be injured in an accident. It is not safe to drive your neighbors around on the state’s minimum liability cover. Then we come to the always difficult question of sharing the costs of the gas. If the passengers always pay something towards the cost of the journey, many insurers treat this as a business arrangement and require the vehicle owner to take out a commercial policy as a taxi. Needless to say, this turns a friendly social service into an expensive excuse to argue with your neighbors over prices. Of course, you could all agree to lie about the arrangement. But the stories can change rapidly if everyone ends up in a hospital and big bills are presented.
The second option is the new rental plans which site vehicles for rent by the hour in local garages. You book what you want over the internet, travel to the garage for the pick-up and drop it off at the same garage when your time is up. The cost per hour on the standard plans are attractive and, assuming you do not want a vehicle more than an average of one hour every day, you will save money on car ownership. But you do need to look carefully at the insurance offered in the standard plans. Some have poor cover of medical expenses for you as the driver and passengers. Others do not include the loss of use charge if the vehicle is off the road being repaired. Always read the small print. Summing up, finding insurance for a single vehicle means getting multiple car insurance quotes and finding the one that works for you. If you are going to use your car to drive neighbors around, you also need to get car insurance quotes to cover the additional liabilities. If you use one of the new rental plans, consider paying extra for LDW which gives more comprehensive protection against loss.
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