High Risk Auto Insurance: Top Reasons Drivers Are Considered High Risk

There are a number of reasons that drivers are considered high risk. They range from, most simply, your driving experience, to the car that is being driven. The total sum of the equation is what places individuals into the various risk categories. If you drive a high performance vehicle, you will be placed in a higher risk category than one who drives a more economical vehicle. Similarly if you drive a great deal of miles per year or have few years of driving experience, these factors will increase your risk factor from an insurance company’s point of view.

Lack of driving experience is the most common factor that causes someone to be classified as a high risk driver. Most people are able to remember when they first obtained their drivers license. We either had the, "I know it all”, or the "I'm scared and a little apprehensive about my driving ability" mindset. When I was a kid, I remember thinking that I knew everything that there was about driving. That changed when I got into a car accident, and as time passed after, I learned from that accident and my driving knowledge grew. Many years later, I’ve gathered a bit of elderly knowledge and can look back at how much I have learned since I was 16. I’ve learned a bit about my riskier days when I would tailgate, drive at speeds well in excess of practical, and would multitask instead of paying attention to my driving. This is what insurance companies look at, and realize is most often the case.

Another risk factor is the type of vehicle that you drive.  If you look at the inherent classification of the vehicles that are around, this would be apparent. For example, if you drive a Ford Mustang Cobra compared to a base Ford Mustang, you would be classified as a higher risk driver since the insurance company will look and think about why a person would want a more powerful version of the same vehicle. Most of the time, it tends to be a person who wants to race, show off or impress someone, or just plain go fast. An insurance company tends to think, well, they have the power and high speed capability, so the person will probably use it. In my claims experience this usually leads to more severe and expensive accidents since higher speeds typically equate to worse injuries and property damage.

Your driving record is another reason that a driver is considered high risk since the type of information contained in a drivers record is a snap shot of your overall driving personality. If for example you have a large number of speeding tickets, you will have a higher propensity of being involved in an accident since the higher speed equates to less time to react or avoid it. Just like a person with a lot of speeding tickets shows a higher propensity for an accident, so do other citations such of failure to yield or failure to stop, due to their close relationship with driver awareness.

In conclusion, the factors listed above are the major functions that cause a driver to be considered high risk. To avoid being classified as a high risk driver take the combination of the above factors and try to do the least of them. The higher risk you present, the more your insurance will cost or it will even cause you to be ineligible for some insurance companies. There are several who will not issue a policy to a driver for some more expensive cars or to new and inexperienced drivers. End point, if you’re a new driver, had several accidents and/or tickets in the past couple years; it would behoove you to avoid a high performance vehicle that would end up increasing your risk factor. Try getting something a little more demure and after the points or accidents have dropped off then go back to the high performance vehicle.