Reader’s Question:

I am wondering how come car insurance rates are different? My boyfriend’s insurance rate is far higher than mine. We both have the same driving experience (we’ve been driving for a couple of years now) and we also live in the same area. Can someone explain this to me?

Ali

Lansing, MI

Car insurance rates differ a lot not only among drivers or among insurance providers but also depending on the state where you live in. Although I cannot specifically point out what guidelines your insurance provider is following when setting insurance rates for your boyfriend or for you, (since that depends on your insurer) what I can give you are the common factors that affect a person’s car insurance rates.

But, let me first clarify this, car insurence rates can either be determined by your state law or by your insurer, depending on the framework set by the government.

Now to answer your questions, these are the popular reasons why your car insurance rate is different from your boyfriend:

• Your car: Is your boyfriend driving a high performance car? Cars that are expensive to be replaced or repaired are expensive to be insured thus higher car insurance premiums for them.
• Your car’s usage: The more your use your car, the higher your chance of getting into an accident. With that, the higher your insurance premiums will be. So do you use your car less often?
• Your location: Living in a metropolitan area means paying for higher car insurence rates.
• Your driving record: How long have you been driving? How was your previous car insurance experience? How many accidents have you caused for the past 6 years? This all partly determines how good driver you are – -the better driver you are, the better insurance rates you have.
• Your auto insurance coverage limits and deductibles: Have you added optional insurance coverage? If you have then your car insurance rates would be higher. Have you chosen higher deductible? If you have then your insurance rates will be lower.