Most people understand that age, gender and personal driving habits affect your car insurance rates but what they don’t know is that there are other factors that can increase your car insurance premium.
Note: The following tips are general in nature and will vary from insurer to insurer. It is best to check with your insurer about whether these factors affect your policy.
How Car Insurance Premiums Are Calculated
There are a number of factors that determine what car insurance rates you pay, most notable are your age, your gender, your vehicle and the type of driver you are.
Most insurance companies will have a list they will go through to determine what type of driver you are. This will include things like the following.
How many kilometres do you drive per day on average?
If you only drive a short distance to work or you don’t need to drive every day. This can bring your car insurance rates down and is great for people living close to the Perth CBD or retirees.
Are you using your car for work?
This ties in with the point above, as you’ll be driving your car more and it will be at a higher risk to make a car accident repair claim.
Have you made a car insurance claim before?
It’s common to hear car insurers advertise things like “no claim bonus” or “safe driver rewards”. RAC motor vehicle insurance offers a “no claim bonus discount” on its comprehensive car cover. Allianz motor vehicle insurance uses a “Safe Driver Star Rating” to reward customers based on their driving and claims history. If you’ve never needed to claim for car accident repairs, you are more likely to have a lower premium.
What Factors Can Increase Your Car Insurance Rates?
Car insurance premiums are calculated based on a case-by-case basis and each car insurer has its own criteria but here is a list of possible factors used to determine your car insurance rate:
Geographical location
If you live in an area with a high crime rate or it’s highly congested and prone to car accidents, this could influence your car insurance premium. Likewise, if you live in a safe, secure neighbourhood this could reduce your premium. Find out if your suburb has private security measures and check your suburb’s crime profile here.
Marital Status
Believe it or not, this can be a factor affecting your car insurance price. Statistically married couples are found to drive less and therefore are at lower risk than singles to require smash repairs.
Driving Experience & History
Nothing surprising here, inexperienced drivers are seen as being at higher risk of needing car accident repairs than experienced drivers. The exception to this is drivers that have a history of poor driving. This includes making car accident repair claims when they were the at-fault party and speeding or driving infractions.
Credit History
A little more surprising but your credit history can affect what you pay for car insurance. If you have a poor credit rating it can be seen as a reflection that you will more likely make car insurance claims and seek payment for car accident repairs.
Profession
Car insurers can make correlations between your occupation and your level of risk. If your profession is seen as careful people – police officers or nuns for example – you may be able to reduce your car insurance rate. As mentioned earlier if you use your car for work, this can also affect your car insurance premium.
Getting car insurance is a major cost of owning a car and unfortunately, it’s one of those things that are “better safe than sorry”. Use these factors to reduce your car insurance premium where possible and consider bundling your home or personal insurance with the same insurer.
Here are RAC’s tips for saving on car insurance.
Use an Insurance-Approved Car Repair Company
If you do find yourself in need of smash repairs, Gino’s Panel & Paint is an insurance-approved panel beater that provides a fast turnaround time for all our customers.
“We’re trusted and experienced panel beaters that have been in the business since 1973. We understand the annoyance of getting repair work and we care about getting you back in your car ASAP. Our rapid repair technology means there are fewer steps required and less wait time between each process” said Aaron Scagliotta, Director.
Gino’s Panel & Paint is a RAC Ready-Drive Repairer for the Greater Southern Metropolitan Region including the City of Fremantle, the City of Cockburn, Spearwood, Bibra Lake, Willagee, Murdoch, North Fremantle, Mosman Park and Peppermint Grove.
Gino’s is also proud to be an Allianz Selected Repairer servicing a large area of the southern metropolitan area. Being a Selected Repairer means our highly qualified auto body repair technicians are recognised and trusted by Allianz for providing fast, high-quality service. It also means that repairs completed by Gino’s come with a guarantee for as long as you own the vehicle. Contact us today!
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