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About 128 million Americans commute to work each day, with an average commute time of 25.5 minutes, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chances are, you’re one of these people. Commuting to work obviously costs money in terms of gas and wear and tear on the car — but you may not know that how long you commute to work each day also can affect your auto insurance premium.
At some point, you might end up with a vehicle that just sits in your driveway or garage. Maybe it’s a sports car that you drive once a year. Or a clunker you’ve been meaning to fix up. Or a car your child left behind when she went to college. Do you have to get auto insurance for a car that’s never on the road? The answer is “yes.” But there are some ways to minimize how much it’ll cost you.
For more than 10 years, California’s Low Cost Auto Insurance Program (CLCA) has been providing auto insurance coverage for those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it. In October 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new law that should make it much easier for low-income drivers to get this special coverage — by making it available online.
You have a clean driving record. But what if your spouse doesn’t? Or what if your young adult child (who still lives at home) has a proven tendency to get in accidents? Your good auto insurance karma would be canceled out by the less-than-stellar driving records of those who have access to your car.
In such cases, some drivers turn to what’s called a “named driver exclusion.”
To determine your premium, auto insurance companies try to predict how likely you are to file a claim — and how much that claim is likely to cost. Your age, your gender, your driving record and what kind of car you have are all part of the formula. Even where you live can drive up your insurance rate.
There are many things that can raise your auto insurance rate — your accident record, your age, even how many miles you live from work. But the list of things that could lower your rate is just as long. Here are some auto insurance discounts you may not have heard of:
Here’s a troubling statistic for teens who are eagerly awaiting their 16th birthdays: A recent poll from Nationwide Insurance found that many young people are waiting longer to get their driver’s licenses.
The poll, conducted by Harris Interactive, sampled nearly 1,500 Texas teens and their parents between December 2010 and January 2011. Researchers found that the bumpy road to economic recovery, along with high costs for insurance and other extras, is leading families to cut back. Auto insurance, gas prices and the cost of a car for the teen to drive all put financial pressure on families — meaning many teens are waiting longer to get in the driver’s seat.
Drivers are saving on auto insurance — by skimping on coverage, according to a recent study conducted by Quality Planning, which supplies data for the auto insurance industry. The study, which looked at consumer auto insurance shopping habits between 2006 and 2010, found that consumers are cutting back on coverage and, in some cases, dropping collision and comprehensive coverage entirely on older cars.
Crawford Frazer
When your child goes off to college, you’ll likely worry about tuition, housing and other day-to-day expenses. But what about auto insurance? Once your child has moved out, how will your auto insurance policy work?
Adding a teen to your auto insurance policy will lead to a hike in your premium.
That’s because teen drivers pose a double threat to a potential insurer: their immaturity, which increases the potential for reckless behavior, is coupled with a lack of real driving experience, according to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. Their crash rate (which peaks at age 16) is four times higher than that of drivers over 20, according to the highway safety institute, and teens account for a disproportionate share of the thousands of fatal crashes each year.
