My cousin had been convicted of DUI and because of that he’s paying so much on his premium. He said he is considered a high risk driver by his car insurance company. I’m a new driver and there are a lot of things I don’t know about car insurance. How does one become a high risk driver in Idaho?

Chad

Nampa, ID

In general, when a person has been convicted of serious traffic offenses such as Driving under Influence (DUI), auto insurance companies considered them as high risk to be insured.

Being a high risk driver depends mainly on your driving record. So let’s say you’ve been involved in several vehicular accidents, particularly if that resulted to significant liability against you, then you are considered as someone that is risky to be insured. Getting several speeding tickets, will also make one a high risk driver. But being convicted of DUI like what happened to your cousin is the worst nightmare that could happen to any drivers. When my brother was caught drunk driving in Nampa, ID, he was fined of not more than $1000 and his license was suspended for 180 days.

Although, I’ve mentioned that being a high risk driver is dependent on your driving history, having a fancy sports car make you a high risk driver too. Also, having a poor credit history, gender (males are considered to be risky to be insured as compared to females), age, (teenagers are high risk driver as compared to adult drivers) and place of residence (living in an urban area is less safe than in rural areas) are also some of the factors that makes one a high risk driver

There are some factors that you cannot control that makes one a high risk driver. But one of the things you can do not to be tagged as one is to make sure you drive safely. Maintaining a clean driving record will surely make you get lower premiums. It’s one great way of saving money and saving your life also.