One of the reasons that the prices of insurance vary so greatly is
because of the presence of various insurance myths. In recent years,
many car insurance companies hired underwriters who actually set the
rates they offered for car insurance.
These underwriters were people
who had a great deal of experience in the car insurance industry and
it was their job to decide which people presented a good risk and
which people seemed to be a bad risk for the company.
Once this was established, a rate would be quoted to the prospective
customer. If you were considered to be a good risk, then the rate
quoted would be reasonable; however, if you considered to be a bad
risk, the rate quoted would be quite high.
While many companies no
longer use an insurance underwriter to set their rates, there are a
few companies that still do. Even though they are not used by many
companies, some of the principals they used still do apply.
For example, in the past, underwriters would quote higher prices for
people who were living in the city. They felt that people living in
a large city, such as London, would no doubt be driving in a higher
volume of traffic than someone in a rural area.
This in turn meant
that the chance of having a vehicle accident was much higher in the
city than in a rural area. Still today you will find that people in
London and other large UK cities pay more for their car insurance
than those who live in outlying areas.
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Challenging Insurance Myths
While some of the criteria used by underwriters to determine rates
were accurate, there were other things that they used as pricing
criteria that are actually myths.
One example of this is that
underwriters felt that journalists did a great deal of drinking
around their lunch time, so they viewed them as a higher risk than
other office workers.
The idea that journalists drink a lot at lunch
is actually a myth and not something that can be proven, which is
why this is not used to determine risk any more. Another similar
myth that was also used was the myth that once people pass the age
of 25, suddenly they are much better drivers than they used to be.
As you can see, there are a variety of different myths out there
that have been used in calculating your risk and the rates for your
car insurance cover. This used to be one of the biggest reasons that
car insurance prices varied so much; however, today many companies
are not using insurance underwriters to set their rates any more.
Even companies that do still use underwriters have changed their
methods. Instead of subscribing to common car insurance myths, they
now use statistics as well as your personal profile to come up with
rates that are more accurate and reasonable.
So, what can you do about the insurance myths out there? Well, first
of all be sure that you get quotes from several companies. The
quotes you get are probably going to vary quite a bit, and you will
definitely want to avoid going with the high end quote.
Look for the
lower quotes that offer you a more accurate idea of what you should
be paying. This will help you make sure that you get the best
possible deal on your car insurance cover. If you want to save
yourself the trouble of trying to find a variety of quotes on your
own, then we can help.
Here we will help you get a variety of
different quotes while just filling out one form. This will help you
ensure that you get the best deal possible without worrying that
insurance myths are driving up your rates.
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