Idaho – Factors that Affect Auto Insurance Rates

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Idaho insurance companies take great care in selling auto insurance to drivers and other members in their households due to the high risk they are taking in the face of several traffic accidents and subsequent insurance claims. Hence, they consider lot of factors in deciding the insurance rates that had to be charged to a particular driver. If you analyze these factors and evaluate your risk level, you would be able to understand the amount of premium that you are likely to be charged. The major factors are presented here for your knowledge.

Age of the Person Applying for Auto Insurance Coverage

Normally, persons below the age of 25 are considered as high risk drivers by insurance companies. Persons below 25 usually drive recklessly and faster due to the exuberance of their youth. Due to this factor, they tend to take more risk while driving by over speeding, passing others dangerously, and other such risky actions. As such, if you are under 25 or if you include persons in your household under the age of 25 in your auto insurance policy, the insurance company would hike your insurance premium proportionately. People between the age of 25 and 50 are charged moderately. Persons between 50 and 65 get the lowest premiums, since insurance companies consider them as the safest among drivers. People in this age group generally tend to drive slowly and avoid all kinds of risks during driving. However, the insurance rates for people in this category would also be determined by their health.

Gender and Marital Status of the Driver

Women and married persons are held as more responsible drivers by insurance companies than single males. Hence, the insurance rates to single males would be higher than that of married persons and women.

Driving Record and Violations by the Driver and Others Included in the Policy

The insurance companies look at the driving record of all the persons included in the auto insurance policy for the past 3 to 5 years. The higher number of traffic violations and tickets for drunken driving, speeding, reckless driving, etc., the steeper the insurance rates would be. If you and most of your family members had a comparatively cleaner record but one single member had a bad driving record, it would be wise to exclude that person from the auto insurance policy to obtain a lower premium. Further, every person included in the policy should try to improve the driving record during the period of the insurance policy, so that lower insurance rates could be negotiated when the policy comes up for renewal.

Other factors considered by the insurance companies are the type of vehicles, types of occupation of the persons included in the policy, credit ratings of these persons, installation of safety and security devices, and years of driving experience. High value vehicles and new vehicles would make your insurance rates shoot up. Similarly, persons with poor credit scores would also be quoted higher insurance rates. If your credit record is not adequate, you should try to improve it during the policy period for getting a better rate during renewal.