High risk drivers are drivers who are at a higher chance of meeting with an accident and thus filing a claim which the insurance company will need to compensate the other parties for. High risk drivers are all around of us and many of us have been high risk drivers at one point of time or another and many of us will be high risk drivers in the future. Teenagers, senior citizens, people with bad driving records, drivers with past insurance claims, and people who drive high performance and modified cars are all classified as high risk drivers.
Is the classification fair?
Simply put yes, and no. It really depends upon driver to driver although insurance companies have no way of knowing what kind of a driver you are, many people who are in fact rash and reckless drivers have clean driver’s records. Hence the birth of the generalization of high risk drivers, the justification provided to drivers is also valid in the form of statistics and past facts and figures which makes it impossible for the driver to refute the higher premium.
Risk and what you can do to decrease it
Many high risk drivers have cleaned up their records and thus fallen out of the group of drivers who need to take high risk insurance policies, and so can you. Spend a few dollars and request your driver’s record from the Dept of Motor Vehicles; this will help you understand where you stand and what you can do to come out of it.
Drive in a defensive and sedate manner so as to avoid any accidents and traffic violations. Keep an eye out for speed signs and slow down wherever required. Drivers Ed courses can not only do the obvious and train you to be a better driver but can also fetch you discounts at some insurance companies. Install all the safety features you can afford to, they make your car safer in the ways that they decrease the chances of you crashing or losing control of the vehicle and protect you from bodily harm in the event of an accident. It’s all about decreasing the risk factor you pose to the insurance company and any step that can help reduce your risk factor will reduce your insurance premium.
Insurance companies
There are insurance companies who specialize in insuring high risk drivers. Many of these insurance companies see the very reason other insurance companies consider you as a high risk case as a benefit to give you a lower premium. Young drivers are seen as responsible young adults while adults are taken as veterans of the road. Drivers with high powered cars are taken to be enthusiasts who know when and how to push their vehicle.
There are many reasons why such companies insure high risk cases, the most popular one being lower competition, while a normal auto insurance company will face completion from various other companies they barely face any competition as they aren’t too many insurance companies who insure high risk drivers; such companies are a safe bet and an insurance policy from them can save you as much as $700 by just changing your insurer.
Another reason is profitability; such an insurance company is offering policies to high risk drivers at a higher cost thus making a huge profit thanks to the larger profit margin, such companies aren’t really of value to a customer since their insurance premiums will not be much lower.
