What Pumps Up Your Premium?

We’ve all heard about the different things that increase your insurance premium – age, job, etc. But what factors will really pump up your premium?

Your car

The car you drive comes with certain conditions that influence your insurance premium. These include:

Value

The more expensive the vehicle the more costly it can be to repair. This could be down to the quality or cost to replace parts, or the work required to repair a more sophisticated car.

The same can be said for older ‘classic’ cars. Specialist parts, or hard to come by replacements, could make the cost to insure higher than you might initially expect.

Power

Is your car designed to get you from A to B? Or is it aerodynamically tuned, supercharged and designed to get you there faster than you can actually work out where B is?

Essentially, the more powerful your car, the general consensus is it will be involved in a serious road accident, or do more damage in a collision than a standard vehicle, This pushes your insurance premium higher.

Modifications

If you’re in tune with your inner boy racer, you might have modified your car in some way – fitted a fancy spoiler, or some shiny wheel caps. But this comes with its own insurance pitfalls, depending on what you’ve done – increasing power (see above) or making it more desirable to thieves. Consequently, modifications have the potential to increase your premium due to the extra risk they pose to your vehicle.

When you use your car

The times of day you use your car might not seem like a massive issue, but it can have an impact. If your vehicle is used for the commute to work, for instance, this could mean you’re driving frequently at peak time. With more cars on the road, there is a greater chance of you having an accident, causing your premium to rise.

Where you live

Your postcode can also influence your premium. If you live in an area with a higher crime rate (particularly vehicle crime) this could increase the likelihood of damage to your vehicle, like theft or vandalism. This, in turn, can still cause your premium to rise – even though the local crime rate isn’t your fault.

Other factors

There are other things that can affect the cost of insuring your vehicle – a no claims bonus, age and driving experience, for instance. But the major contributor to a high premium is actually the very thing you are trying to protect: your car.

We’ve looked in more detail at one of the key factors that can pump up your premium – your job. Take a look at our blog post How your job affects your insurance to find out more.