Auto Insurance Term

Most people know they have a consumer credit score, but few realize there is a similar ranking used by auto and property insurance companies to rate a customer’s potential liability and it is key to getting affordable auto insurance.

Fittingly, this is called an insurance score, but it takes into account more than just how promptly you pay your bills. It also incorporates data such as how many claims you’ve made on past policies, how frequently and how costly they’ve been to previous insurers.

This score has a dramatic impact on the cost of your auto and property insurance premiums. According to Robert Hartwig, president and founder of the Insurance Information Institute (www.iii.org), a nonprofit agency designed to help consumers with insurance questions, “These scores are basically credit information that an insurance company uses from your credit profile, but they then take that and relate it to actual information regarding your claims history or your legal history.”

In other words, do you have a habit of suing people? Fair or not, those things factor into your insurance score. There’s almost nothing you can do about it, other than keep your credit in tip-top shape and try to avoid making multiple claims.

“People with poorer credit tend to be associated with relatively higher losses to insurance companies,” Hartwig says. “That group . . . can incur more claims or more costly claims, or both.”

Hartwig says this is different than a credit score because of the manner in which information is used. “Insurance companies don’t need all the information that’s in a credit score. The insurer only takes information that correlates with what it needs to determine. They’re looking to maximize the correlations between credit information and loss information. If [people] tend to be financially responsible, they tend to not be reckless behind a wheel, they tend to maintain their homes, things like that.”

Perhaps the most interesting thing about insurance scores (and the most disconcerting) is that you can’t change themat least, not in the short-termbecause your ranking factors in cumulative information over a period of years. Moreover, you can’t find out what your score is because each company considers the method by which it ranked you to be proprietary.

“You can’t find out because each company makes their own insurance score,” explains Jeanne Salvatore, senior vice president of public affairs at www.iii.org. “Each insurance score also uses credit differentlysome might just use it in applications and some give it greater weight than others. Underwriting (how a company determines who to insure and for what price) is very proprietary. That is how insurance companies competeby being able to price the product better than the next guy. If they gave that away (how they rank individuals) they’d be giving away some part of their trade secrets.”

So, what exactly can a person do with this new fact of insurance scores? Is your collision coverage too high because of it? Why do you need high risk car insurance?

“As a consumer, what you should be doing is shopping around, shopping for a good rate, because that ultimately is what you want to do anyway,” Salvatore says.

And it’s the best way to ensure you get the most affordable auto insurance possible.

That and drive safely!




By: Ryan Patterson

Ever wonder if you pay too much for your car insurance? Surprisingly most people feel that they do so you’re not alone. Trying to decipher insurance can be confusing and some people feel a bit intimidated when it comes to looking at their policy. With so many options to insurance and policies on the market theses days how do you know for sure who to select and what type of coverage is actually best for you?

Well first thing is first, in order to help you get the lowest rate possible to cover you for the car you are driving you must first understand and learn about the factors that could be affecting your premium. So many things come into play with that. Insurance companies just don’t pull numbers out of thin are and then say there you have it. Insurance carriers do actually factor in quite a bit to determine the risk they are to assume with you.

The main point here is for you to understand what those factors are and then learn how use those factors to tip the scale in your favor. Does that make sense to you? Well it should because it’s that simple. What auto insurance means in the most simplest of terms is protection. Protection is the peace of mind you pay for just incase you have a collision with a guard rail and want to have your car repaired or worse, involved in an auto accident with another vehicle and need medical attention.

Your current and past driving record is what gets looked at first with insurers. I hope that is no surprise to you. Insurers do this to estimate their risk for insuring you. Sometimes you need to turn the tables and see what it means for a company and what it does t them. What an insurer looks for when they scan your driving record history is:

1. At-fault accidents usually within the last three to five years.

2. Traffic violations usually within the last three to five years.

3. Claims made by you, usually within the last three to five years.

Know this for sure that if you’ve received marks or blemishes against your driving record, you can be assured that you’ll be paying more for your auto insurance because of that. The good news is that this doesn’t last forever. After a few years of hopefully driving good and you’ve cleared up any issues you can start to regain a positive rating on your insurance.

Even though you may have had some blemishes it doesn’t mean that you have to pay through the roof with premiums. Companies vary and so do their rates. Always shop around and compare rates and services. Don’t assume that you are always going to pay for more than you should. Companies will compete to get your business.




By: Laura Buckley

Family auto insurance is a blanket term for auto insurance that protects all members of your family. If you have teenagers in your family, you know how much your insurance can increase when you add a teen driver. When you add young drivers to your family insurance policy, it becomes more important than ever to find the best rate.

Keeping Your Rate Low

To help keep the rate on your family auto insurance as low as possible, follow these tips:

* Enroll your son or daughter in a driver’s education course and in a defensive driving class. Insurance companies usually offer discounts for teen drivers who have completed these types of classes.

* Encourage good grades. Most insurance companies offer discounts to good students, meaning students with a B or better average.

* Consider getting your son or daughter a separate policy rather than adding him or her to your policy. If your child drives an older car and never drives your car, this step could save you money.

* Avoid buying your child a sporty new car or a sports utility vehicle. Opt for a safe and sturdy older model vehicle to save money on your insurance.

You also need to notify your insurance company if your child leaves home for college. Your family auto insurance policy usually covers a car that your child takes to college, as long as the parent is the registered owner. But depending on where the college is, your insurance rates could increase or decrease.

If your child is going to college in another state, you also need to make sure that your insurance coverage meets the minimum insurance requirements in that state.

The Internet Can Help

As you search for the best rate on family auto insurance, be sure to check out insurance comparison websites. On these sites you can get fast and accurate quotes from multiple A-rated insurance companies.

The best auto insurance comparison websites also offer answers to your family auto insurance questions by allowing you to talk online or by phone with insurance professionals. (See link below.)

Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com or click on the following link to get family auto insurance quotes from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more insurance tips in their Articles section.




By: ryan@thesatellitetvguide.com