How Your Driving Affects Your Auto Insurance Rates
What if you are in the market for improving your auto insurance rates, but you have less than a perfect driving record. The best approach in this case would be to find and compare an online car insurance rate from companies that specialize in assisting clients with second chance auto insurance rates.
Paying your car insurance premium month after month causes most people to think about various ways to lower their auto insurance rates. Year after year your rates continue to increase even though you had a clean driving record during that period. Many auto insurance companies will increase your online car insurance rates just to make more profits.
But there are things about your own driving record that affect your car insurance rates and while you may have a general idea about what they are and how they affect your online car insurance rates, it pays to review this information to be sure you understand the situation completely.
Auto Insurance Rates And Traffic Citations
Normally, if you have a minor traffic citation on your driving record it will not have a huge impact on your car insurance rates. By simply exceeding the speed limit only by a couple of miles per hour or missing a stop sign, insurance companies may only increase your rates a few dollars. But if you accumulate numerous tickets and these tickets are for major violations you can expect a drastic rise in your rates.
For example, if you are stopped for speeding and issued a citation the insurance provider will research how many miles per hour you were over the limit; 10 miles or less, between 11 and 15, or 16 and higher. As a general rule, the driver who was speeding at 16 or more will have higher insurance rates than a driver who was only speeding less than 10 miles over the limit. Additionally, if you are issued such a ticket once over a three year period, your rates will be less than someone who has been issued multiple tickets.
Serious traffic offenses also will hurt your car insurance rates drastically. You will see an increase in your rates of 10% to 25% for driving while intoxicated or under the influence. Think about how high your auto insurance rates could go if you combine a few major traffic violations and a DUI offense.
Time Spent Behind the Wheel
Would you believe how much you drive and why you drive also affects your car insurance rates? The more your car is on the road the more likely it is to be in an accident. If you commute long distances you’re going to be paying more than the person that doesn’t work or that works from home. There may not be much you can do about where you work but you can think about how you use your car and consider if it’s not time to start carpooling and using other means of transportation as much as possible.
And if you use your car for your business in any way, this too will affect your auto insurance rates. Your insurance company knows that this increases the risk they take in insuring you and the risk they take in having to one day settle a claim. Since auto insurance rates probably won’t be coming down any time soon, you need to do everything that’s in your power to lower the rates yourself as much as you can.
