by C. L. Easey

Created on: November 07, 2008

There are many factors that insurance companies use that can affect the cost of auto insurance. The most common factor that can increase costs are tickets for driving infractions. Another big factor that can affect the cost are claims that are made on a policy. Other factors can include the miles an insured drives to work and a their age. Individuals that are aware of the factors that can make their insurance rates go up have a small measure of control over the ultimate price of their policy.

The biggest factor the can increase the cost of auto insurance are tickets for driving infractions. These can include tickets for speeding, running a red light and careless driving. Most infractions will drop off an individual's license in usually two or three years. Insurance companies on the other hand will want dates for infractions going back as far as three or even five years for new policies. As a result a speeding ticket an individual received three or four years ago will be used as a factor to calculate the rate that is applied to their policy. Some insurance companies may even forgive the first infraction which can result in a better rate.

Claims are probably the second biggest factor that can affect the cost of auto insurance. Claims on a policy are handled in different ways. They are classified as either an at fault accident or a not at fault accident. What most individuals fail to realize is that even though a claim may be for a not at fault accident it is still a strike against the policy. If an insured has too many not at fault claims their insurance company will either non-renew or cancel their policy. An at fault accident on the other hand will almost always lead to an increase in the cost of the policy. Although, the increase will not be seen until it is time to renew the policy. Individuals should not file a claim if the repair cost is slightly more than the deductible on the policy.

Two other factors that can affect the cost of auto insurance are the miles drive to work and the age of the driver. Insurance companies use the length of the commute or miles driver to work to see how long a vehicle is going to be on the road The further a driver has to travel to get to work the more it will cost to insure the vehicle. The age of the driver is used to determine the experience of a particular group of drivers. The younger the driver the higher the insurance because they are more likely to get into an accident. Usually insurance rates generally start to go down once a driver has reached the age of twenty five.

Individuals are becoming more aware of what affects the cost of their auto insurance. More and more if one insurance company is really high they can go to another. An additional way to control the cost of insurance is to not file relatively small claims on a policy. While there isn't much an individual can do to affect the final cost there are still a few options available.

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