Where You Live And What You Drive Can Impact Your Auto Insurance

Many factors can influence our auto insurance. We all know that. Major such factors are gender and age. Typically young male drivers are known to be most expensive to insure like their driver's record branded. The driver's record is the thing to watch out for - tickets, accidents, driving under drugs or alcohol influence -all pile up and make for auto insurance costs.

Location is also important in scaling down auto insurance expenses. Auto insurance rates in the countryside are generally lower than their urban counterparts. Accidents tend to be more frequent in big urban center. This is generally due to the heavy volume of traffic on roads.

Some states boasts of higher auto insurance rates compared to others going by the percentage of claims that are filed. New Jersey, Washington D.C., New York and Massachusetts generally have the most average auto insurance rates. Settle auto insurance claims in certain areas can also be more expensive. This can also add to the cost of auto insurance premiums that you have to pay. Big ticket vehicles cost more in repair or replacement of parts. Richer urbanites will at some point of time have higher average insurance rates.

Pick a vehicle that is low profile and safe. It's also important to note the way it resists a crash for the auto insurance companies, as they will have to pay more for a car that costs a great deal to repair. If some makes of cars show a tendency to be more involved accidents and incur greater damage or inflict greater physical harm to the passengers when involved in accidents, assume safely that those cars will be more expensive to insure. Vehicles like sports cars and certain SUVs generally rate lower going by standards of crashworthiness. They therefore carry higher auto insurance rates.

Is Your Vehicle Targeted One?

It's also important to know whether your vehicle is on the most frequently targeted list (for theft) or not. Non-profit bodies like the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) track vehicles that are stolen most commonly. The NICB lists try to track all cars on the road. The HLDI, on the other hand, base their search on results of the total number of insured cars on road (that means ones which are higher up the insurance claims list for theft). According to the NICB, the five most commonly stolen cars in the US in 2001 were the Toyota Camry, the Honda Accord, the Honda Civic, the Oldsmobile Cutlass/Supreme/Ciera and the Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee. The HLDI enlists the Acura Integra, the Jeep Wrangler, the Jeep Cherokee 4WD, the Honda Prelude and the Mitsubishi Mirage as cars with the highest theft claim frequencies in the same year. Ensure that you don't own one of the above listed and be careful in the future.

Conclusion

Along with the factors that are obvious about you, who is going to be the person insured, there are other factors to be checked out -the type of vehicle you're your location are factors that are likely to affect your auto insurance expenses. Make it a point to compare quotes before you buy an insurance plan, and also hit upon the one that suits you the best and also your vehicle and your locale. Discounts are many and miscellaneous - for you being a good student, for having safety devices installed on your car, for having low mileage on your car, for being a senior citizen, and for being in the military. These can bring you handsome discounts on your auto insurance costs. However, check out if you knew that your residential location and the make of your car also impact drastically on your auto insurance?

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