I recently moved to Edison, New Jersey from a foreign country, and I had a good driving record in that country. I am just wondering why are my car insurance rates so high? Are there any good driver discounts?

George

Edison, NJ

One of the biggest rating factors car insurance providers use to determine your car insurance rate premium is your driving record.

Other factors that are being considered might include where you live, your age and how many miles you drive every year.

Since you do not have a verifiable driving history in the U.S your car insurance premiums in Edison, New Jersey will be higher until you establish a verifiable driving history. Once you operate in the U.S. for a couple of years and establish a safe and good driving record, your car insurance rates should be lowered.

Ask for discounts, you never know what you might be able to get and how much you can save by asking.  Some popular discounts can be given for:

1. Military personnel

2. Good grade students

3. Union membership and bank member affiliations

4. Safe drivers with no claims in last 7 years

5. Defensive driving school attendance

6. Clean credit history – used by many carriers to determine payment risk

What are the benefits of comparing multiple auto insurance company quotes in Dallas, Texas?

Brent

Dallas, TX

Auto insurance companies normally will target a certain category of drivers that has the lowest loss ratio; that is the category of drivers that the least amount of money in terms of auto insurance claims is expected to be paid out.

Each auto insurance company’s rates are adjusted according to their losses so that they can raise insurance rates in areas where they have had a lot of payouts and lower rates on those areas where they had a low amount of payouts.

Other than the drivers by a city’s zip code, insurance companies also categorize by many other factors including driving experience, marital status, driving record, occupation, type of vehicle, and a few other factors.

This is why comparing rates from multiple insurance companies is important. Although some car insurance providers may be cheap for your neighbor, it may be expensive for you and vice versa.

There are other faster ways than calling several different companies to get their auto insurance quotes. There are brokerages out there where you can instantly compare auto insurance quotes from top companies and allow you to purchase the policy. There are a lot of websites that will permit you to compare car insurance rates instantly, with one simple process, from top companies in Dallas, TX.
Ask for discounts, you never know what you might be able to get and how much you can save by asking.  Some popular discounts can be given for:

1. Military personnel

2. Good grade students

3. Union membership and bank member affiliations

4. Safe drivers with no claims in last 7 years

5. Defensive driving school attendance

6. Clean credit history – used by many carriers to determine payment risk

Does an unmarried couple residing in Abilene Texas who’s been living together need to share the same policy if they each have their own car? Is it cheaper?

Jeremy

Abilene, TX

Insurance companies tend to favor two-car policies and often offer discounts. What you can do is to compare rates from different auto insurance providers in Abilene Texas to see if it’s cheaper to combine or have separate insurance. Be aware that in calculating insurance premiums, each driver and each vehicle will be rated separately. It would be even better if you own a house together and use the same carrier for your homeowner’s and auto insurance.

Usually if your insurance company knows that you’re living in with someone, they will ask you to add that person either as explicitly included on your policy (listed as a driver and their driver’s license rated) or EXCLUDED (not allowed to drive the car and not covered if they DO drive it).

When deciding whether or not to combine your insurance policies, you may want to consider NOT mentioning that you live with someone who has a bad driving record. If a person has a bad driving record, it’s recommended to have separate policies for cheaper rates. In this case, the policy of the better driver may need to exclude that of the bad driver.

Just a footnote, for unmarried gay couples in states or cities where there is domestic partnership there may also be a discount being offered by some insurance carriers.