10 factors affecting your car insurance rates

  (photo credit: freepik)
(photo credit: freepik)

The car insurance market has become a competitive arena where insurance companies are fighting for the pockets of car owners with promotions and discounts. What are the parameters that affect car insurance prices?

We are witnessing a time when insurance companies are surrounding us from every direction. Each of these insurance companies has one clear goal - to prove to car owners that it is, and no other offers the most effective and cheapest insurance. Which leads to the obvious question - what variables affect the level of car insurance premium?

The end justifies the means

 Insurance companies and agencies turn to the pockets of potential customers, competing for the ability to provide the cheapest but most affordable car insurance. To that end, they pull out the heavy guns - huge discounts, the first few months as a gift, benefits for particularly careful drivers. But they are not only fighting each other but also the insurance comparison sites

One of these sites, bestie.co.il, is an Israeli start-up that compares attractive car insurance offers, reliability from a selection of companies and insurance agencies in the market in a completely objective manner. At Bestie you can see the breakdown of coverage and costs in each policy that comes up in the search results, understand exactly what it contains and how its final price is reflected.

What parameters affect car insurance prices?

1. Seniority in driving - Experience in driving is of crucial importance in determining the rates of comprehensive insurance, compulsory insurance or third-party insurance available to you at the time of renewing the policy. A driver with many years of experience on the road is a driver whose chances of being involved in accidents, mishaps or situations of causing damage to a third party are significantly small given the skills he has developed over the years: knowledge of different road conditions and challenges they pose, techniques Smartly and act quickly to prevent tragedy.

2. Characteristics of the car - If you have a luxury car, a very old car, an SUV that you rarely drive on family trips, or alternatively - a standard family car by all accounts, this is reflected in the insurance routes that companies and insurance agencies offer you and the premium level. Because each vehicle has its unique insurance needs, which stem from, among other things, its parts vehicle (as well as the degree of availability of spare parts if the need arises), and its purpose - whether it is a vehicle for private use or a work vehicle.

3. Insurance history - Your history with the insurance world, whether it is clean or full of previous claims, is very important when it comes to the prices of your policy. Each option leads to insurance routes with different rates - the clearer your insurance claims, the lower the insurance offers you will receive, since insurance companies see the absence or presence of insurance claims as a means of examining the nature of the potential customer; Is he a customer who claims compensation frequently or is he a customer who may provide industrial quiet throughout the insurance period.

4. Accident and license revocation history - Drivers who have had their license revoked at least once as well as drivers who have been involved in many road accidents will have to work harder to find suitable car insurance, as insurance companies take extra care with drivers they identify as problematic and therefore offer more expensive policies. At best, at worst they refer them to another insurer, for fear of numerous claims for compensation from this driver.

5. Careful driving - Insurance companies take care to chaperone drivers who make sure to drive carefully, as the chance that they will get into an accident or activate car insurance is significantly lower than that of other drivers. Thus, a careful driver is a convenient customer who contacts the insurance company only when the renewal date of his car insurance policy is approaching. That is why many insurance companies prefer customers of this type, some of which even offer dedicated routes or pampering benefits for responsible and considerate drivers who want to insure their car.

6. Young or new driver - Young drivers belong to the 17-24 age group, while new drivers have a driver's license less than a year old, often these definitions overlap, for example when the driver is a high school student, student or soldier in regular service. Drivers belonging to this age group are perceived as having a greater potential for road errors because their senses are not sharp enough and the ability to analyze complex road situations is not yet properly developed, so car insurance routes that can be purchased for them are more expensive

7. Insurance Additions - Each car insurance policy comes with a series of data coverages, which can vary slightly from one insurance contract to another as well as from one insurance company to another due to policy differences. Alongside this is a series of service letters and additions that can be attached to the policy in exchange for an additional payment - VIP services, new for an old one, a replacement vehicle. Any addition you choose to include in your policy will upgrade it, making it effective but also more expensive.

8. The amount of the deductible - The deductible is mainly included in the comprehensive insurance or a third party for the vehicle. Is the amount of money that the insured is required to take out of his pocket when he encounters an insurance event as defined in his car insurance policy. The deductible can be used as a tool to find car insurance at a suitable price, since the higher the deductible, the cheaper the total price of the policy will be.

9. Vehicle safety systems - Advanced car safety systems, such as Mobilai, ESP system to maintain the stability of the car and the driving route, reversing camera or automatic seat belt tensioners not only make the car ride safer and more relaxed for the driver and all.

10. Second car in the family - There are insurance companies that provide benefits and discounts to policyholders who have more than one vehicle in the home, especially if all the vehicles are insured with them. Their starting point is that each vehicle has a different role in family life; One is used for routine trips to work, for errands, for children's frameworks, on weekends, while the other is intended for more specific cases, such as family vacations, nature walks. Thus the chance of having an accident decreases due to the frequency of use. Accordingly - the cost of annual insurance may be reduced.

Tailor the insurance to your needs

The first step in choosing affordable car insurance is to know the total needs and uses of the vehicle and how to act. The great abundance that currently exists in the insurance market: multiple companies and insurance agencies and means for locating and purchasing car insurance - can play in your favor, because with the click of a mouse or a touch of a screen on your smartphone you can discover an impressive variety of attractive and effective insurance offers, contact an insurance agent And customized.

This article was written in cooperation with Bestie