Insurance companies look at many things to determine what rate they will assign you for a certain auto insurance policy. While many of these factors are beyond your control, there are some things you can do to pay less for car insurance.
Factors Affecting Your Auto Insurance Rates
Here are the main things that insurance companies will take into consideration when determining your auto insurance rate:
- Age: Insurance rates will be higher for younger, less experienced drivers.
- Gender: Male drivers cost more to insure than female drivers.
- Location: Not only do different states have higher premiums than others, but whether you live in a rural or urban area can also make a difference. People living in rural area often pay less for car insurance.
- Vehicle: The vehicle you drive can make a huge impact on the price you pay for car insurance. A faster, sportier car will cost more to insure than a minivan.
- Driving Record: Your driving record will affect your auto insurance rates, and if you have a history of driving violations this will show in your premiums.
- Claims History: If you have a history of making claims with the insurance company than your rates will be higher.
- Credit Score: Your credit score can affect your car insurance rates also. Insurance companies perceive people with lower credit scores as a higher risk, and therefore assign them higher rates.
Things You Can Do To Lower Your Auto Insurance Rates
- Make a Wise Choice When Buying a New Vehicle: If you are thinking of buying a new car, don’t just think about the initial cost or the price of the car. Take into account what that particular car will cost you in terms of auto insurance.
- Make it a Goal to Drive Safely: You can’t change your driving record, but you can make it a point to start driving safer. Without any additional traffic violations or speeding tickets, you will see your rates go down with time.
- Raise Your Credit Score: While this won’t happen over night, there are some things you can do to raise your credit score in the long run. Start paying off your debt, don’t open any unnecessary new lines of credit, pay your bills on time, and don’t close old accounts and with time you will see your credit score go up and your car insurance rates go down.
- Shop Around: The most important thing you can do when looking for auto insurance is to shop around and compare quotes from multiple companies. Even if you have an auto insurance policy already in place, it is a good idea to compare quotes every six months or so to make sure you are still getting the best rates available to you.
Our free car insurance rate finder at the top of the page makes this quick and easy! Get started saving money on car insurance today!