How Location Affects Car Insurance Rates in California
Reader’s Question:
Why did my car insurance premiums go up when I moved just ten miles east from San Diego California?
Mike
Good question Mike.
It seems like your zip code had changed and must have put you to a risk factor location according to your insurance company’s underwriting calculations.
There is an established guidelines, according to California Proposition 103, that was established in 1988, that determines your California auto insurance rates. He are the primary factors:
1. Your driving safety record
2. The number of miles driven annually
3. the number of years driving experience
There are other factors that can be used by the nsurance company to determine the individual’s premium.
The secondary factors are marital status, frequesncy, claims history, geographic area where your car is garaged, gender, type of the vehicle, etc.
Until now, insurance companies set rates for premiums based primarily on the zip code rather than the mandatory factors which is driving record, miles driven annually and the driving experience.
Make sure that you maintain a clean driving record within the next two years since this may change so that your rates will be based more upon your driving record than your zip code.
Goodluck!
MariCAR
My Auto Insurance Was Just Canceled – What to Do?
Reader question:
Is it easy to get auto insurance in California after you’ve had your policy canceled?
Margeret
Thank you for asking, Margeret.
Actually, it can be pretty hard to get California auto insurance if you have something on your record like a previous cancellation by a car insurance company. This is why it is so important to take care with all of your automobile insurance dealings because if you don’t, then you will have to pay the price. And that price can be as much as a ten percent increase, and that’s only if you can find a company for auto insurance that wants to give you coverage at all.
When you go looking for auto insurance, the company will be able to look at your CLUE report, which aside from containing your claims history, will also have your previous cancellations and nonrenewals. This may influence them to deny your request for coverage, but if they do take you on then they might make you pay your entire yearly premium up front instead of allowing you to do the month by month installment. This can be a good thing for some people, because it is actually slightly more expensive for the installment plan. However, most people don’t have that much money at once.
Another thing that having your auto insurance canceled is that it will affect your credit score. Not all auto insurance companies report to credit agencies, but it is definitely something to think about even if they say you don’t, because most wouldn’t give a straight answer on this. Credit scores are also used hen determining how much you will pay for your auto insurance in California, and if you have a bad credit score, then that price could be pretty high. Even if your driving record is otherwise stellar, it could still hit you hard.
If all else fails, you’ll have to either go to a company for auto insurance in CA that sells policies to customers who are considered high risk. If you do this, you will pay more. And if no one will accept you, then you will have to consider going with the high risk pool for auto insurance which costs even more.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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