Reader’s Question:

I’m new in the field of auto insurance because I have gotten my own policy here in Arkansas just recently. I’m meaning to ask, for what reasons do auto insurance carriers review the driving histories of their customers?

Nicole

Little Rock, AR

Normally, auto insurence carriers look at the driving history of an individual applying for a policy from them. They do this to (1) find out if the individual meets the auto insurence carrier’s benchmarks of insurability and (2) to assess the individual possible risk to know how much the coverage would cost.

But every auto insurance carrier has their own process of assessing their applicants that’s why the points on your driving record could or could not have an effect on your payment for your auto insurance.

Depending on the state, when you are given out an auto insurance policy, the insurance carrier may have the right to examine your driving record at any time. Certainly, only a small number of auto insurance carriers in Arkansas have some means to make checks on the driving histories of each policyholder every day, thus the occurrence of these checks is in fact very low. But there are times when you could be quite sure that an auto insurance carrier would review your driving history, including the following:

–Application for auto insurance

–Request to change the coverage of the auto insurance policy

–Adding a vehicle to the auto insurance policy or change the covered vehicle

–During renewal of your auto insurance policy