Why Are Auto Insurance Premiums Going Up?

How many of us get upset or even angry about paying our car insurance?  I suspect most of us, because we don’t understand or have not had it explained, what I have, what does it do, how do different parts (endorsements) benefit me can prevent an informed well thought decision to be made.

Some of the basic factors that go into pricing are as follows;

1)      The area you’re located in.

a)      Auto insurance tends to cost more (all things being equal) in cities and heavily populated areas.  Per my experience,  Dallas County is higher than Tarrant County, is higher than Parker, Wise, Johnson counties and so on.

2)      Credit or “Insurance Scoring” has a lot to do with the cost of insurance.  Actuarially it’s proven that the person who has better credit (insurance Score) is “less likely” to file a claim which then is factored into pricing.  Some of the things that go into this can be level of debt, non-pay or delinquent accounts, lack of credit, and other factors that frankly I don’t fully understand or have knowledge of.

3)      How we use our car, maybe a realtor using the car in business, driving to and from work (how far is our commute), pleasure use, and/or Farm use.  These different categories all have different impact on the pricing and tier rating.

4)      New drivers typically less than 25 years old are considered a high risk driver and the rate follows.

5)      Of course incidents can be a problem.  Tickets, accidents (even not at fault) can effect a rate.  Some companies consider three years history and some consider five years.

There’s so much more that goes into pricing but these are some of the common things I see that cause unfavorable auto rates.  We all have the ability to affect this but I see folks all too often just get upset and deal with it.

As a local agency that cares about its customers in Springtown, Decatur, Fort Worth, Weatherford, Azle, Lake Worth, Granbury and other locals we will sit down and have an honest conversation on what we see (if we can) to help you with your car insurance needs.

This communication is intended to be informational only.  It does not represent any insurance company, TDI rules or laws, only a conversational tool for our clients and prospects.  There is much more than what's printed above that goes into properly insuring an auto and protecting assets due to auto loss.