A report was released on Tuesday by the National Insurance Crime Bureau where it indicated all the hot spots for vehicle theft. There were indications that ‘Fresno California metropolitan statistical area’ had the highest number of theft last year. OAI or online auto insurance had compared the policy prices in this area with that of another city which had a lesser theft rate. It was found that the residents of that place had much better accessibility to affordable auto insurance compared to Fresno, especially when it comes to comprehensive cover.
There are a number of factors that the car insurers take into consideration while determining the cost factor and the policies are priced accordingly. The risk levels are taken into consideration first. For instance, if the policyholder lives in the city and drives around in all the congested areas with heavy traffic and high accident rates, then they are likely to be charged much more. The other factor is the number of miles driven. If a person drives around a lot then the premiums will go up. The comprehensive cover will go up if the car is parked in a garage where there is a huge number vehicle theft.
Now, online auto insurance has generated about 44 six-month premium quotes in order to see the difference. These premium quotes have used the same driver profile for Carlsbad and Fresno. Carlsbad was chosen because this was one of the cities which had the least number of vehicle thefts in California the previous year. As per the 2010 data that was obtained from the California Department of Finance as well as the preliminary crime report from FBI, for every 94 residents in Fresno there was one theft. But in Carlsbad, for every 875 residents there was one theft.
So, when we take a look at the premiums, it is evident that these thefts have a serious impact on the pricing of the policy. According to the analysis, there was just a difference of $3 in the average price especially on liability-only policy between both cities. However, the average premium on a six-month policy in Fresno was around $140 more than the average premium in Carlsbad, when comprehensive cover was added. Hence, the analysis of the study indicated that the same car and the same driver with the same liability and comprehensive cover will be charged around 25% more on an average in Fresno when compared to Carlsbad.
