What Affects the Pricing of Home and Auto Insurance?
Hi my name is Cammie Flores. I am a licensed Agent with UIS Insurance & Investments with over 20 years’ experience in the Insurance Industry. I would like to talk with you today about some of the major factors that affect your home and auto insurance in today’s market.
Let’s start with your homeowner’s policy:
- The age of your home and or any updates can affect the premium and type of coverage you may qualify for. For instance, a home that is built with in the past 10 years would get a ‘new home’ or new construction discount. On the other side of that, if you home is older or has not been updated in the past 20-30 years you could get a surcharge for age.
- Your credit history/score also play a part in determining your premium
- If you have past claims, this could prevent you from getting certain discounts or qualifying for the best program within a company.
- The amount you choose for your deductible can also affect your premium. Your deductible is the amount you pay for any one loss prior to your insurance kicking in. The most common deductible is $1,000 all perils deductible. Many carriers also have the option now of choosing a higher wind and hail deductible which can lower your premium. But, keeping in mind the higher your deductible the more you are responsible for with each claim.
- The location of your home and how the Fire Department is rated can also affect your premium. If your home is located in town and within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant, your premium could be much lower than if you were located miles out of town with no hydrants available. This is determined by the carrier and distance from the responding fire department.
- A few other common discounts that are available to any homeowner would be a multi-policy discount, a discount for alarm systems, dead bolts, and smoke alarms.
Next, let’s take a look at some of the major factor’s that go into determining an Auto insurance policy premium:
- The age of the drivers on the policy can be a major factor. For instance, a 16 yr. old driver carriers a much higher premium then a 30 year old. This is due to the inexperience of the driver. This can also be true at the other end of the spectrum, once a driver is over 70-75 yrs. they may lose a mature driver discount, or have a higher rate due to the fact that an accident is more likely to happen.
- The type of vehicle can also have a substantial effect on the premium. As a rule, a standard private passenger 4 door vehicle would carry a lower rate vs. a high performance sports vehicle, or a high valued vehicle with more options.
- The usage of your vehicle is an important factor also. A vehicle that is just used for pleasure use with have a lower rate than a vehicle that is driven to work or school every day, also the number of miles driven can be a factor. There are also coverage concerns if you use your vehicle in the course of business, you will want to check with your Agent to make sure you do not have coverage gaps, or you may be better covered under a commercial auto policy.
- Your driving record also is a major factor, not only in premium but which companies and programs you may qualify for. If you have a history of accidents and/or violations you will see an increase in your premium along with being limited to whom may insure you.
- Your credit history/score would also play a part in determining your premium just as the homeowner’s coverage.
- A few more items that will have an effect on your premium: the limits of coverage, deductibles, option coverages purchased(or declined), marital status, # of years loss free, multi policy discounts, multi car discounts.
I hope this gives you a good idea of the major factors that go into determining the premium of your insurance policies. We at UIS do our very best to pair our customers with the very best coverage at the very best premium. We realize that we must all be conscious of our costs these days, but as your Trusted Insurance Advisors we want to make sure that you are not going without the very important coverages you need. Thank you for your time and please contact any one of our Agents anytime, we would love to hear from you.