Auto insurance-Cheap auto Insurance: Factors that Affect Your auto Insurance Rates

When it bears on auto insurance rates, who you're determines what you pay.

Automobile insurance premiums are based on a battalion of factors, some of which you can control, and some of which, alas, are incontrovertible facts of life. Statistically, a sixteen-year old male child with a 300 horsepower sports car in a big city is far more probable to hit something than a 35 year-old married guy driving a minivan around the suburbs.

While you can’t change your age and some other factors, there are things that you are able to do to keep insurance premiums as low as possible.

Factors you CAN’T change that impact your auto insurance rates:

* Your age
Dick Clark and Sophia Loren notwithstanding, aging is unavoidable. And while you mayhap a mature-looking teen or a youthful octogenarian, the oldest and the youngest drivers are far more likely to have accidents.
* Gender
Whether it’s the mothering instinct or fewer NASCAR fantasies, women statistically make safer drivers.
* Marital Status
Ok, you will be able to change this, but there have been no reports of people marrying simply to lower their insurance rates.

Factors you CAN change that impact your auto insurance rates

* Geography
Where you live matters. For example, those living in rural America are far more improbable to have a collision or a stolen car than those living in a city. But, sometimes even just moving across the street can change your rate.
* Driving violations
Speeding tickets, running warning lights, failure to yield, etc. all count toward your auto insurance rate.
* Your vehicle
If you must have that cherry red Corvette or the Ferrari Testarossa, be prepared to pay for it. Your insurance premiums will be higher.
* Accident claims
While you can’t change the past, keeping your slate clean and unhampered accidents will hold you in better stead than lots wrongdoer benders.
* Credit rating
That’s right — many insurance companies view having a poor, or even no credit history as implicational higher risk.
* Occupation
A little easier said than done. Believe it or not, insurers have found correlation between your occupation and risk. Makes sense that the pizza delivery guy could be a higher risk!

Other factors that come in determining premiums:

* Miles driven per year
* Distance to work
* Occupation
* Years of driving experience
* Business use of the vehicle
* Whether or not you currently have auto insurance
* Theft protection devices (often results in discounts)
* Multiple cars and drivers (another opportunity for discounts)

Overwhelmed?
It can be to a higher degree a bit confusing when trying to decide the best and most affordable coverage for your vehicle. Like anything else, get good advice and comparison shop. With the Web at your fingers, you've all the information and power to get the best deal.