What factors usually lead to higher car insurance?

There are several factors that car insurance analysts use to compute your car insurance rates. Although each car insurance company has its own biases as to which factor weighs more in the computation for car insurance rates all of them basically use the same set of factors. The factors that are considered include age, gender, marital status, car/vehicle type, geography or your location, work distance, occupation, driving record, and credit rating.

• Age – Statistics show that drivers 30 years and below are more accident prone than older drivers. Because of this your car insurance rate will be higher if you are 30 or below.
• Gender – Although men tend to look down on women’s driving the truth is that younger men are more prone to accidents. So if you are male and under 30 years of age you automatically belong to a group that requires higher car insurance premiums.
• Marital Status – If you are married and have kids that are old enough to drive that drives your car insurance higher since the young drivers in the family are taken into consideration.
• Car/Vehicle Type – If you can afford an expensive car then you’d also be prepared to have a higher insurance premium. The rationale behind this is that more expensive cars have a higher risk of being stolen. In addition to this high-performance cars like sports cars also usually get into more accidents and cost much more to repair than the average car.
• Geography/Location – The area in which you live and spend most of your time is a significant factor since areas have different risk factors attached to them like the crime rate and accident rate. Some areas are just more accident prone but more importantly an area with a high crime rate will surely increase your car insurance rate.
• Work distance – The greater the distance you have to travel to and from work the higher your insurance premium will be.
• Occupation – A high risk occupation will result in higher premiums. Believe it or not, being a pizza delivery guy will count against you when it comes to car insurance.
• Driving Record – Having multiple violations or being involved in a vehicular accident will most certainly hike up your insurance premium. Violations of any kind including speeding and running red lights count against you.
• Credit History – Though it might seem completely unrelated car insurance companies have found out that people who have no or poor credit histories usually file more or at least bigger claims than those with good credit histories. Thus, even in taking a car insurance a bad credit rating will hound you. Further, the idea is that people with good credit histories are “safer” and more responsible people and less prone to wreckless driving.