Thursday, July 5, 2012

Does Age Affect Insurance Rates?

Facts state that age is inversely proportional to insurance cost. People start driving their cars during their teenage years and continue doing so for as long as they can. However, insurance companies look at teen drivers as their liability, while they give 40-year-old drivers quite an advantage. How does age affect the insurance rate?
Teens
Teens at the age of 16 can start driving after getting their license. Car insurance for 16 year old teens is quite expensive. That is why many parents just include their teenage child to their insurance policy. However, including a teenager on your insurance could be equally disadvantageous. The cost of your insurance when you include your 16 or 18 year old son or daughter on it could double. This is because teens have insignificant driving experience, making them vulnerable to driving accidents. Statistical data support the assumption that more car crashes are caused by teens than by adults.
Auto insurance for 16 year old drivers may be less expensive under certain conditions. Teens with good grades may be eligible for less expensive insurance policies. Also, owning an older, less expensive car allows them to avail of cheaper rates.
College Students
Drivers in their late teens and early twenties, usually college students, may avail of cheaper insurance rates than 16-year-olds. But don't be too hopeful. This age group still falls under the high risk category for insurance companies, and insurance rates for them may still be above the average. Insurers look for certain conditions when assigning rates on the insurance of a college student. One is how often they need to drive and how far they are from school. If your son or daughter moves out of the house and moves someplace near school, then their insurance rates can drop.
Adults
People between the age 24 and 40 get favorable rates due to the fact that they are already experienced in driving and have jobs. People in this age group are more responsible and more careful. They take less risk in anything, including driving. By this age, they already know the value of money. They want to drive carefully because they know the consequences of bad driving habits. They don't want to do anything that will drive the cost of their insurance up in the future, because they know the value of money they work hard for.
Of course, not all adults are good drivers, but majority are. This makes them eligible for lower insurance rates. Rates may be affected by gender. Men may get higher rates than women, because adult males have more bad driving records. But basing the difference on age alone, it can be assumed that car insurance for 16 year old drivers is significantly more expensive than that for 25 year old drivers.
However, being an adult does not guarantee you of average cost insurance. Age is just one factor that determines insurance rates. Even if you reach 50 and are enjoying low rates, your fate can suddenly change if you are caught driving under the influence of alcohol or if you got involved in a traffic accident. In other words, you can enjoy good insurance rates as long as you keep your good driving record.

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