How Car Insurance Premiums Are Priced

As an owner of a local insurance Vancouver Washington business I can safety say that most people know little about car insurance. They are absolutely clueless why their premiums are what they are.

I thought it best to shed some light on the subject. There are many factors that affect your premiums that you cannot help but there are some that you can.

Being aware of them will help you bring your costs down in the future or at the very minimum help you to understand that when we quote you an auto insurance rate, it is not out of thin air.

• Driving Record

When you are caught speeding, running a red light, not stopping at a stop sign, driving too fast through a school zone, or reckless driving it goes on your Washington state driving record. Too many of them will deem you to be high risk to insure.

If you get caught drinking and driving then you will automatically be vaulted into that category and be forced to obtain SR22 insurance. This insurance costs 2-3 times more than conventional insurance coverage.

• Vehicle You Own

When you are at a Vancouver dealership and planning to buy a new car think about how insurance companies sees it.

Average cars and minivans will be cheaper to get auto insurance for than sports cars and SUVS. The insurance companies use hard numbers to determine which cars are riskier to insure than others.

• Marital Status

People who are married pay cheaper rates. They are considered more stable and less likely to engage in behavior that is risky. A guy who is married with two kids will not be racing someone 120 MPH down the highway.

• Location

This does not affect residents in Vancouver, WA too much. If you live in an area that is icy or really big your rates do go up. But since it does not snow, and the accident rate for the Portland, Or-Vancouver, WA area is fairly low for a large city, this is not too much of a factor here.

• Age

This is a biggie. Younger people are a lot more accident prone. They take chances and are more carefree with their life. Experience is also not something they posses at this time in their lives and so get into a lot of accidents compared to their percentage of the actual driving pool.

The younger you are the more you will pay for car insurance in Vancouver Washington and anywhere else in the state.

So these are the five major factors. Some you can change and so you cannot. Being aware of them will help you to make better choices in the future.

When you walk into an office that sells car insurance Vancouver WA and they give you a quote you will fully know why the amount is what it is. There will be no surprises and if you receive a higher rate than you imagined you will fully know why.