When it comes to dealing with car insurance, many of us don’t have any idea about its basic things. In this case, we need to get the lowest interest rate possible and we need to learn about factors that could affect our premium.
- Driving records: It shouldn’t be too surprising that insurers will examine our driving record. This is important to allow them estimate and gauge the risk of insuring us. They will scan our record for previous accidents, claims made and traffic violations. This will allow them to determine whether we are risky individuals. If we have received negative marks against our driving records, then we can bet that we will be paying more for the car insurance. Fortunately, bad marks can be removed from our records after three to five years, provided that we are able to maintain a blemish-free record during the interval period. In this case, it is important to maintain a stellar driving record to make sure that we could be approved for lower premium.
- Previous insurance coverage: When we apply for car insurance, agents will examine our earlier insurance coverage. They will determine whether we are able to pay premiums on time. In this case, they will determine how many claims we have filed with our old insurer. We should also consider negative behaviours that could increase our risks. It is important to consider that there could be red flags in our previous car insurance coverage. However, this factor doesn’t apply if we are new car owners and we didn’t have car insurance before. It is important for us to avoid future penalties by paying our current premiums on time. We should also maintain a respectful relationship and it may be a bad idea to file small claims too often.
- Credit history: Insurance providers are also checking our credit scores. They will check how long our credit history has been established and whether there are significant fluctuations in our score. Our current revolving debts could also be taken under consideration. In general, consumers who have good credit scores are also good and careful drivers. We should be able to pay our bills on time and improve our credit score, resulting in lower premiums. In order to ease the process, we should arrange the premium to be withdrawn from our account each month.
- Location: Actually car insurance providers could charge us more for our location. In general, people who live in crowded, urban areas are more likely to be affected by vandalism, theft and accidents. These are risk factors that insurers need to consider and they will directly elevate premiums. Although premiums could go up in urban locations, we should be able to lower the premiums if we have secure garage and solid protection mechanisms. We should make sure that agents are aware that we are using specific safety mechanisms, such alarms and GPS tracker.