Cheap Motor Car Insurance

When shopping for inexpensive insurance for your vehicle you want to find the best deal possible. Fortunately this is not as difficult as it may seem. There are several factors that insurance companies look at in order to determine the rates for your premium. Some of them are within your control, but others are not.

Factors That Affect Your Premiums

How your insurance premium rate is calculated can be defined in the most basic of terms as: the car and the driver.

An insurance provider will look at the risk factors of both the car and the driver when they are assessing whether or not it is in their best interest to insure you. What does this mean for you? The most relevant factors that are assessed for their terms of risk are:

• Gender of insured
• Age of driver to be insured
• Driving record
• The car to be insured
• Driving frequency/mileage
• Credit history

The Car

An insurance company will look at such things as the age of the car to be insured. You will likely receive discounts based on whether or not your car is equipped with safety features like anti-lock breaks or security alarms. Most newer cars are already equipped with these features so it is generally cheaper to insure a new car. There are also benefits to insuring cars that are older than five years – check with your insurance provider to see if they offer discounts for older cars as well as newer cars. A trend with insurance companies in the last few years have shown that they are more willing to offer discounts if you are driving a hybrid or ‘green car’. The assumption being that if you are willing to drive a car that is environmentally friendly then you are likely to be a responsible driver. Cars that are equipped with safety/eco-friendly features are considered to be insurance friendly vehicles and will be of benefit to you when you are shopping for an insurance policy.

The Driver

Some of the factors used to assess the terms of risk for a driver are out of your control, such as age and gender, although they do play a role in how an insurance company defines your risk factor. Many companies will offer discounted rates to women, not because they are necessarily better drivers, but merely because women tend to be more cautious drivers. They are less likely to be aggressive in their driving habits and are less likely to drive above the speed limit.

Age is also a major determination of risk. Drivers that have more experience and have been driving for a long time without filing a claim will be offered better discounts than younger drivers. Although, if you are a new driver you can help to mitigate this by taking an accredited driver education course. Good grades in school will also help when you are looking for insurance. Because young people have no measure for credit history and driving history, insurance companies will often use school grades as a measure of responsibility.

The Bottom Line

Because of the highly competitive nature of the insurance business, many companies will strive to offer you the best deal in order to secure your business as a client. However, you also need to be vigilant and negotiate with your insurance agent because, while they want your business they may not be as forthcoming as they could be with letting you know all of the discounts and deals you may be eligible for. Be sure to ask what discounts you may qualify for, and shop around, consulting several different companies since some may offer better discounts than others.