4 Often-Ignored Insurance Raisers
We all know the usual suspects when it comes to raising your vehicle’s insurance premium: a teen driver, location, accident history, car type...
There are, however, some more unusual and less thought-of factors that we either take for granted or just ignore:
Marital Status
This makes sense, as not only married couples divide driving time between themselves, but tend to be a little more careful, as they’re likely to be carrying precious cargo. Stats have shown that married people are involved in up to 50% fewer accidents, compared to single drivers. The lowest risk group? Married, middle-aged women who don't smoke.
Credit Score
Stats show that those with lower credit scores are not only more prone to filing claims than their counterparts, but tend to file more expensive claims, as well. Insurance companies also consider those with low credit scores more likely to miss their payments and factor that into their premiums, which tend to be much higher than those with better ratings.
Insurance Coverage History
There’s a significant difference (up to $182 a year) between the rates of someone with no previous coverage (not including new drivers) and someone with at least 5 years of coverage. It may be due to the chance that they either lacked the driving experience while uncovered (assuming they were without a car), or were driving without insurance the whole time. Either way, the insurance company’s risk antennae go up and they pay for it.
Getting Old
It’s not a guarantee depending on the provider, but getting old may increase your insurance premiums. Why? Though the 64-69 age group has a general reputation for safe driving (seatbelts, less texting, less drunk driving), drivers in the 85-plus age group have more crashes per mile driven. When factoring in medical conditions that can impair sight and hinder decision- making, it’s not a huge surprise that the elderly can face higher premiums.
