What Insurance Providers Look for in Drivers

When you get car insurance in Texas, any insurance company through which you obtain a policy is going to look at your profile to determine whether you’re an acceptable risk to them. What does this mean, exactly? If you’re a "good risk," according to the insurance company, you have:

A safe driving record

Insurance rates are based upon the risk profile you present to the insurance company. If you have a good driving record, you’re less of a risk to an insurance company because you’ve already shown that you’re less likely to have an accident than the average driver. This gives you lower rates. The longer you have a good driving record and no accidents, the lower your rates are going to be.

No speeding or other moving violations tickets

Even if you’re a "good" driver in that you haven’t had any accidents (or haven’t had any for a long time), speeding tickets and other tickets for moving violations show irresponsibility on your part. Follow the rules of the road, including staying within speed limits. The more you can show a sense of responsibility on the road, the lower your insurance rates are going to be. (Getting too many tickets can also mean license suspension, which will automatically identify you as a bad risk and increase your insurance rates.)

An age above 25

Older drivers generally have lower insurance rates than younger drivers do, simply because statistically, younger drivers make more mistakes and are more cavalier about their driving than older drivers are – and young men under the age of 25 are the most "risky" demographic group of all. Simply put, as a demographic group younger drivers have more accidents than older drivers do, so they are charged higher rates. The good news is, getting older improves your statistics demographically and therefore drops your rates automatically. By the time you’re 25, you should be paying reasonable insurance rates as long as you haven’t had any accidents, DUIs, etc.