Reader’s Question:

What is a high risk auto insurance? Who qualifies for this type of insurance?

Christie

Los Angeles, California

In general, auto insurance is evaluated based on the level of risks that the policy owner presents. There are different ways of measuring the level of risk. One way is to evaluate the profile of the policy owner. The profile includes the age, gender, home address, household members, and occupation. Each of these is assessed to know whether you are a high risk driver or not. For example, if your age is below twenty-four, then you may be regarded as a high risk driver because drivers between eighteen to twenty-four years old register the highest number of road accidents and violations each year. Likewise, you may be regarded as a high risk driver if you’re a male because statistics show that male drivers get caught up in more accidents than female drivers do.

Another way of checking if you should be given high risk auto insurance is by assessing your automobile. An automobile is assessed according to its market value. The higher the value, the higher its insurance policy rate would be. Some indicators of risk level in an automobile include the model ad make, if parts are custom-made or not, and the mileage.

Another way to assess your risk level is by looking at your records. Your motor vehicle record is a good way of gauging if you are prone to committing violations or not. Your credit record also reveals the frequency of your previous claims. Lastly, your previous auto insurance policy determines whether the previous insurance carrier considers you as a high risk driver or not.