As you get older there are a few things you need to adjust. Life can be quieter after children leave home and you need to find other activities to fill the busy schedule you once had. You are probably retired and have more time in hand. Now could be a good time to work on those hobbies you always wanted to engage in more. Motorists are advised and in some cases required to re-arrange automobile insurance coverage as lives change. This post will look at them from a certain viewpoint and see how they reflect on premiums.
Older drivers go through changes in life as well and these bring several opportunities to reduce car insurance costs. They may be work, address, mileage or physical condition related. Here are some of the likely discount opportunities.
1. Are You Retired and Don’t Need to Commute Anymore?
It can mean that you are not using the automobile as much anymore. Average motorists travel about 12,000 miles a year and a large part of it is for commuting. Retired people would probably cover around 7,000 miles a year and this qualifies them for low mileage vehicle insurance discounts with most carriers, although the amount or percentage differ.
It is worth looking at driving habits and discussing this with an agent. Also, this is a good time to look around and see if this change will warrant switching due to preferences or savings. While some companies offer discounts for over 50s others increase rates for over 70s. And discounts offered for low mileage are considerably different.
2. Are You Moving or Moved Already?
When we are working we want to be near work and in most cases this is large cities or industrial areas where auto insurance rates are high. When people retire and children move away they may want to sell their city apartment and move to a quieter, nicer and maybe sunnier area. Even if you don’t live out of the city you can still save considerably by changing the borough.
If there is a change in living arrangements and address it is a good time to look at policies. Again, the way underwriters rate various groups of motorists change and you would be looking for the best deal for the new environment.
3. Has Your Family Structure Changed?
At a certain age, children come into picture or get out of it. They could be coming into driving age and want to be insured under parents’ policy. This would increase the costs as young drivers are considered high risk. It could be that those days are over and you cannot wait to take them off the policy. This would give you quite a bit of premium relief.
Divorce or death of a spouse could be another reason to look at current coverage. The outcome could be mixed in these cases. People may think that they should pay less when they are alone. However, your spouse’s good driving record or the fact that you were married could have been keeping the premiums low and now that you are single again the rates may go up. But then, it may be time to get rid of the second car. Anyhow, such changes should trigger a vehicle insurance readjustment.
4. Are You Still Keeping a Clunker or Bought a Safer Car?
After a while it may not be worth keeping collision coverage for an aged automobile. Costs can outweigh the benefits. If it is worth about $5,000 and ten years old you may have different plans. If it suffers any damages you may not want it to be repaired anymore. Keeping the money that would be spent for premiums would give you freedom to make such decisions.
However, you may still want to keep Comprehensive coverage since it covers fire, theft and weather related damages that could cause a total loss for you. This may trigger a search for a new automobile insurer since not many companies would separate Collision and Comprehensive. It is always a good idea to have a look at policies every so often and make the necessary adjustments.
5. Changes in Credit Scores
Many people plan ahead for these days and rearrange spending. They may be able to manage finances better now since they have less unexpected issues like paying for a new computer for children and school trips. Also, mortgages may be down considerably and they have more equity in their homes that increase credibility with banks, other lenders and utility services.
You can take advantage of improvements in the credit score by choosing a car insurance company that gives the largest discounts to motorists with excellent credit ratings. You can plan ahead to reduce the impacts of a fall in the score as well if you know what is coming. Some of them may not look at credit ratings of well-established customers often unless there are changes in circumstances like claims, address or vehicle. Even if they do, you will need to be looking for ones that care less about it this time.
Money can be tight and important after a certain age. You don’t have many prospects to earn or ask for a salary increase. So, you have to manage with fixed income from now. Planning ahead, looking at options and shopping around can leave more of that money in pocket. Getting cheap auto insurance will help in that aspect. Also, keeping a tab on these issues makes sure that you only pay a fair premium. Being careful with money would allow you to enjoy more of your free time.