Four Things Auto Insurance Companies Look At When You Ask For A Quote
Auto insurance quotes seem to be all over the map when you look online or call companies to get a quote. What affects the wide variation in quotes that much? If you have never shopped around, you might not even know that there are insurance companies that charge more or less than what you are paying right now. Here are four things that will always affect your quote, no matter which company is giving you that quote.
Age
The older you get, the faster your quote falls in price. Someone who is a brand-new driver at sixteen is going to pay hundreds more every year than a brand-new driver at forty-five. Experience does not necessarily alter the quote so much as age. The older you are, the more insurance companies believe that you are responsible and unlikely to get into a car accident. Hence, a lower quote.
Make and Model of Car
Even if all of the other factors are exactly the same, your insurance quote soars when you drive a more expensive or luxury vehicle. Even if that vehicle is over twenty years old, if it is from a manufacturer of luxury cars (e.g., BMW, Lexus, Cadillac, etc.) your quote will be higher. It helps to do research to find out what makes and models of vehicles help drive your insurance costs down instead of up.
Driving Record
Nothing on your driving record in the last three years drives the quote down. Something on your driving record drives the quote up. If you have speeding tickets, your quote will go up, and if you are in accidents in the last three years, the quote definitely goes up. If your record is clean (or non-existent and you are not a teen or young adult driver), the quote goes down.
Credit Score
There are not that many insurance companies left that do not check your credit score. Do not worry; they are doing "soft checks," which means they are not asking for a full report. They just want to know if you are going to pay them the premiums owed every month. If the score is high, your quote is low, and conversely, if your score is low, your quote will be high. However, if your score improves, the insurance company will make adjustments to your quote. If you buy a policy, the insurance company will also make adjustments every few months based on the improvement or decrease in credit score.