Owning a car is something that is considered to be a privilege, especially if you consider the fact that in many countries, people still continue to dream about even sitting in a car. Hence, you shouldn’t abuse this privilege as you might end up paying dearly for it. Once you have purchased your car and got an appropriate insurance coverage for it, the least that you can do is to make sure that you are going to hang on to the car for a reasonable amount of time. Also, you should try and ensure that your insurance doesn’t shoot through the roof just because you were careless at some point in time.
Here is a list of habits that is bound to get you in trouble in the long run. As much as possible, try to avoid all of them and make sure that you are a courteous and safe driver on the road. This will then ensure that you do in fact have a long and memorable experience with your car and won’t have any bad memories attached with it. The first thing that can cause your premium to increase would probably be if you happen to frequently jump traffic signals and don’t care much for other drivers on the road. Jumping traffic lights is a serious offence, and if you frequently get pulled over for this offence, then you might end up losing your driving permit altogether.
The other thing that drivers find themselves doing quite frequently is drinking and driving. This offense is worse than skipping traffic lights, and there are serious repercussions to getting caught while in the act. In many states, it can even entail a mandatory jail sentence, which can seriously jeopardize your insurance rates, amongst other things. You might even end up losing your job and have a lot of other problems in your life. Despite repeated warnings, a large number of people are regularly pulled over for drunken driving. This is quite a sad state of affairs, but hopefully, things should start changing and people should mend their ways and change how they are.
Another reason for your insurance premium to rise might be frequent claims. If you make a lot of claims, even for the smallest of things, your insurance premium is bound to increase. This is something people learn over time, when they suddenly notice that their premiums have shot through the roof. Hence, as much as possible, try to avoid making claims and if it is a minor thing, you can perhaps fix it at a later time, with another major repair. What is worse is that if you are involved in an accident that is not even your fault; your premium will still increase because you have to make a claim in order to fix your vehicle.
A notorious reason for your premium to increase is if you add more drivers to your insurance coverage, especially younger drivers. Insurance companies are aware of the fact that as children get older, they are going to want to drive. When this happens, one of the things that are needed is to extend coverage for the teenagers as well. This is the golden chance for the insurance companies to make money and hence, they actively pursue the opportunity until the parent eventually caves in. While this cannot be labeled as a bad habit per se, it still is one of the reasons for your premiums to increase.
