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Some car owners tend to get surprised when they learn about different insurance rates for different car types. From their point of view, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a small car or a hot rod as long as they have a good driving record and don’t get in trouble in traffic. Even so, for auto insurance providers, it’s a whole distinct perspective and they will charge you with different premiums depending on the type of car you’re trying to insure. In this perspective, you should bear in mind the following characteristics of each car type and make your decisions correctly if you want your auto insurance budget to be limited:

Small cars

Small cars are generally quite cheap and rather comfortable in the conditions of a big city with heavy traffic. They typically have low engine volumes, top speed, get stolen quite rarely and are inexpensive to handle at repair. Nevertheless, auto insurance can sometimes be a bit costly for small cars because they tend to get damaged very bad during accidents. The laws of physics aren’t on small cars’ side during collisions because the smaller object tends to get the most damage regardless of the safety features the manufacturer has included. Due to this costly claims tend to arise more often with such vehicles, and the insurers respond with respective pricing.

Medium sized cars and family vehicles

Medium class cars are typically regarded as the safest and the cheapest to insure. Of course, it depends on the particular make and model, but the general rule is that these cars are quite safe, have low repair costs and theft rates, and tend to get damaged much less than smaller vehicles during an accident. As a result, you will usually get the best auto insurance rates for this car type.

SUVs

SUVs are certainly very comfortable and give you a whole different perspective in traffic. However, it’s the size that we all love that can be a problem with these vehicles. Due to their size and increased mass as compared to other vehicle types SUVs tend to produce more damage during accidents, especially involving other cars. The third party liability in case of an SUV is likely to be higher because the other car tends to get damaged quite bad and there are likely to be injuries as well. Added to the higher repair costs for such vehicles SUVs are usually more expensive to insure.

Sports cars

Sports cars often seem as an advantageous option for car buyers since they are both cool and cheap. However, when it comes to insuring a typical sports car, you will actually have a hard time finding cheap auto insurance because insurers tend to classify such cars as high risk. Increased top speed, engine volume, elevated theft and accident rates as well as the likelihood to produce a very serious car crash all contribute to high auto insurance rates for sports cars.

Luxury vehicles

It’s logic that expensive luxury cars will cost more to insure than other car types. Nevertheless, it’s not because they are costlier to purchase – insurers have other reasons to charge higher rates for such vehicles. First of all, they are usually very costly to repair, often requiring exclusive and overpriced repair parts that are hard to find in an ordinary repair shop. Moreover, such vehicles are often targeted by car thieves and burglars due to their value and exclusivity. So don’t expect to get cheap auto insurance for any luxury car.

It’s a tired way to start a modern article by referring to the speed with which the world has been revolutionized by the computer but, in this instance, it’s highly appropriate. When the first green shoots emerged in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s, computerization was all about automating in-house processes like the accounting system. The software to replace labor was still a few years ago. But, once it arrived, two things happened. The employers cut their costs and improved their profits by terminating the employment of tens of thousands. Second, by removing many of the people who used to deal with customers, the businesses began a slow decline in the quality of the services they provided. Today, corporations hide behind call centers and e-mail systems, rarely providing real people we can talk through our problems with.

Instead of using the Internet and automated systems as a smokescreen to suggest a reasonable quality of service, the new technology should be used to improve the customer experience. At some point, the quality of this aspect of service will come back into focus as a way of distinguishing between faceless corporations. Take the world of car insurance as an example of what can be done. If your vehicle is involved in an accident, what you want is a smooth system for handling your claim. This involves the minimum fuss in submitting the claim online, the identification of suitable bodyshops for performing the repairs, getting quotes with the least delay, and agreeing which bodyshop will actually do the repairs. All this administration needs to be fast because, if your vehicle is off the road, there are storage charges mounting up and rental charges for a substitute vehicle. Multiply this across all the policyholders and the cost to the insurers is higher than it needs to be. If this loss is controlled, premium rates can be stabilized if not reduced. It’s good for all.

That’s why it’s important to support a new website and mobile app for Android and the iPhone that will improve the current situation. They allow you to upload photographs of the damage using your cell phone or hand-held device with a camera, and circulate those pictures to bodyshops approved by your insurer near to where you live. The repair shops keep the site updated on whether they have spare capacity and offer an estimate of the cost of repairs within 24 hours. Because the site works with insurers to limit the list of repairshops to those preapproved by the insurers, there’s a minimum of delay in processing the claim and costs are kept to a minimum. At present, this is still at a beta stage with five insurance companies in a limited number of states. But, assuming the trial is a success, we could see this rolled out across the country. If it genuinely does reduce administrative delays and associated costs, we will see stable car insurance rates. It may not be the cheap car insurance we all want to see, but it’s a good step in the right direction. It should also act as a wake-up call to the other slumbering giants on both sides of the fence. There are creative software people and insurance companies who would benefit the customer by getting together.

One of the hardest groups to get affordable insurance for is student drivers, particularly teenagers. You can be a student driver at any age but the older you are, the less of a risk you are to insurance companies. So while your premium costs will be high since you are a new driver, they will not be as high as those for new teenage drivers. Lower policy rates for student drivers are achievable if the following conditions are met.

Complete Driver Education Classes

Most insurance companies will not even consider insuring a teenage driver who has not taken and successfully completed an approved driver education class. These classes include instruction on driving laws as well as hands-on driving lessons. There are different levels of driver education. Most students complete the basic level. But insurance companies prefer the advanced level because it includes instruction on defensive driving, bad weather driving, and how to avoid a crash. Insurance companies offer deeper discounts for this advanced instruction with the expectation that teenagers will be better drivers.

Drive a Safe Car

New drivers want the coolest car on the block. But to get a discount on their insurance, they need the safest car available. When calculating rates, insurance companies consider the type of vehicle teenagers will be driving and the cost associated with repairs or replacement if the teenager is involved in an accident. Do not skimp on safety to get a lower rate – teenagers need a safe car more than they need to save a few bucks on their insurance costs.

Achieve Good Grades in School

Just about all insurance providers have “good student” discount programs that allow students to submit their report cards to receive a reduction in premiums. The thought behind this is that if teens can work hard enough to make good grades, they will probably be just as diligent with their driving.

Establish Credit

Teens may be able to get a small department store credit card that their parents co-sign for so they can establish personal credit. Again, auto insurance companies correlate the teen’s ability to manage their credit with their driving ability and will lower rates for those teen’s who establish personal credit.

This article examines ways student drivers, especially teenagers, can get discounts on auto insurance coverage. By meeting certain criteria, student drivers can obtain affordable auto insurance that offers quality coverage in case of an accident.

Being a young driver isn’t the best thing with respect to auto insurance. All insurance companies regard teen drivers aged less than 25 as high-risk drivers and charge them respectively. And there’s a reason for such a pricing decision since the statistics aren’t on the younger drivers’ side. Teen drivers don’t have much driving experience while commonly showing a risk-taking behavior in traffic, which results in a higher number of insurance claims and serious accidents for this age group compared to all other demographic groups of car owners. Sometimes teen drivers can pay twice as more as their older peers for the same set of coverage from the same insurer. Sure, it’s quite disappointing but this doesn’t mean that you’re bound to pay a lot for having your car insured all the time. There are effective strategies for reducing insurance costs, and you may find them really useful if you don’t want to overpay for auto insurance.

Stay with your parents’ policy

Teens are known for their constant thirst for independence and individuality, which can sometimes take a strange form. Wanting a car of their own is certainly one of those forms, but it’s not as strange as the will to buy separate auto insurance for their car. When it comes to insurance, it’s better to stay under your parents’ policy as a written driver for as long as you can because it’ll be much cheaper than buying a policy on your own. The problem is that you have to reside in the same house as your parents in order to be included as a written driver and your no-claims experience under such a policy is not accumulated. However, it’s definitely a great way to start your insurance history until you are able to afford a separate policy.

Take the time to shop around

Comparison shopping is crucial when it comes to auto insurance and with all those opportunities the Internet delivers these days it’s really a crime to avoid comparing quotes from different insurers. Bear in mind that there will always be fluctuations in rates different companies will offer for the same policy with the equivalent coverage amounts included. So your aim is to find a policy that has the most competitive price with all the features you need. There are countless sites that allow you to compare quotes from different insurers in a matter of minutes, so comparison shopping is probably the easiest way to save on auto insurance for a teen driver.

Be a good student

As strange as it may sound, being a good student is welcomed by most insurance companies, and you can save a lot of money on auto insurance by getting excellent grades. Full-time students with an average of B and higher can opt for a special good student discount if they have a separate insurance policy. Insurers state that good students tend to be more responsible when it comes to driving and produce fewer accidents compared to their peers who aren’t as good at school or college.

Consider an older vehicle

Driving an expensive car is definitely a dream for most teenagers. And most of them who can actually afford to get one either with the help of their parents or using own money don’t hesitate buying a cool ride just to be able to impress their peers. Nevertheless, when it comes to insuring such a vehicle, the premiums can go sky high, especially if you’re on a separate policy. If auto insurance costs are a cause for concern, consider starting with a cheaper, maybe even used car that will be cheaper to insure. And once you accumulate enough driving experience or manage to avoid any claims for a couple of years in order to get the respective discount you may consider getting a better vehicle.

The business of underwriting is all about estimating the risk of loss. In broad generalities, that means a red mean-machine driven by a teen is likely to be involved in an accident, whereas a family saloon driven by a homemaker with a baby in back is likely to arrive safely. Although stereotypes are not always helpful, there are some very detailed statistics showing which drivers are most likely to make claims. Not surprisingly, the people who only drive occasionally and at off-peak times when there’s little traffic on the roads have the lowest accident rate. When the statistics confirmed this common sense assessment, insurers wanted to offer low mileage drivers a substantial discount. Unfortunately, large numbers of people are dishonest and claim low mileage simply to get the discount. Faced with this problem, most insurers either refused a discount or only offered a token percentage.

Technology has now come into play. Many new vehicles leave the factory with on-board computing power and transmitters. In the more sophisticated vehicles, this allows the vehicle to signal a garage when maintenance work is required. This technology can also be modified to monitor when and how the vehicle is driven, transmitting the results to insurers. For vehicles without the basic technology installed, black boxes have been developed. They can be plugged into the vehicle’s electronic systems and collect all the relevant data.

This is Big Brother technology to tell the insurer exactly when you drive and how many miles you travel. But it solves the problem of dishonest reporting. So many insurance companies are now offering plans directly based on the mileage traveled in a week. This is of immediate benefit to homemakers and seniors who only make short trips during the day. The most honest of the insurers are offering up to 40% discount to those who use the vehicle the least. It also helps the environment by encouraging people to use private transport less. If people walked more, it would make us less dependent on imported oil. It also reduces pollution. With better air quality, people with breathing difficulties have a better quality of life.

Not everyone approves of this technology. It’s considered an invasion of privacy. Indeed, with the right software, the insurers and anyone else who has access to the data will know exactly where the vehicle has been driven. This could prove involvement in criminal activity or suggest infidelity. Of course, the insurers protest they have no interest in making this data available to law enforcement agencies or anxious wives. But there’s a case about to be considered in the Supreme Court where monitoring a GPS transponder evidenced involvement in drug dealing. It will be interesting to see what our highest court has to say about this use of the technology.

As an example of an insurance plan, State Farm are promoting a Drive Safe and Save Plan in Illinois. This is based on the installation of a plugin device called In-Drive. Effectively, this enables drivers to pay for their insurance by the mile. Car insurance rates can be significantly lowered if you are prepared to accept positive monitoring of your driving. Look for the option the next time you get car insurance quotes from the top insurers. Big savings are available.