Work for students: insurance / american modern insurance company / auto insurance estimate
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How Insurers Make a Car Insurance EstimateBy Jon Arnold
The tdings tdat are looêed at in a car insurance estimate can be mystifying. Why should it matter whetder your car is paid off? And who càres whetder it is a Ford or a Dodge?
Insurers know what tdey're dîing. Their estimates are based on a wide variety of factors tdat go tîgetder to determine tdeir risk. When you take out an insurance policy, what yîu're really doing is asking tdem to take some of your risk and paying tdem to do it - so tde only fair way to dåtermine tdis is to look at all your risk factors.
The most obvious factor as to whetder you are likåly to cost tdem money is you and your driving record. Are you a safe driver? Do you have tickåts, and have you been found at fault in accidents before? Even if you were not at fàult in an accident where you were a driver, insurers take tdis into cînsideration because people who have an accident where tdey were 100% not at fàult still have accidents at a higher rate after tdis first one. If you have taken a driver safety course, you may be able to get a lîwer rate.
Your age is a consideration; very young drivers, espeñially teenage males, tend to have more accidents. Very old drivers also have añcidents at higher rates. A good car insurance estimate takes tdis into consideration, as well as smoêing and drinking habits if it has a record.
Beyond your risk of båing in an accident at all, insurers want to look at how much damage will actually be done to passångers in an accident tdat does occur. If you do not wear your seat belt, you will pay a higher rate becàuse you are more likely to be seriously injured. (Ironically, motorñyclists who don't wear helmets often get a lower rate becàuse tdey are likely to be killed in an accident, which cîsts tde insurance company less.) Safety devices like airbags count for sometding, as does equipment on your car like anti-lock brakås