"I've never had an accident. Why are my auto insurance premiums so high?" 

Some of these you have no control over. Others are within your power to change, and it can make a big difference in you auto insurance premiums, all resulting in cheaper car insurance. Let's take a look at all of these and see how your premium is affected.

Where you live.
Major metropolitan areas like New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles among others, are hot spots for both crime and accidents. Thus, your premiums will be higher. Suburbs of major cities tend to have lower rates than within the metro areas. Rural areas almost always have the least expensive rates. In addition, rates vary widely from state to state. Arizona and Florida have higher rates due to the large number of senior drivers, while Maine, Vermont and Idaho have relatively low rates due primarily to a sparse population. You could change where you live, but it's an expensive way to reduce your auto insurance premium. However, if you live in a major metropolitan area near good public transportation, you might consider ditching the car altogether and renting one when you need it, or downgrading the car you drive to something that will provide simple transportation that you don't have to keep fully insured.

The kind of car you drive.
If you're the type that likes big, fancy, expensive cars, then you will also pay the price for auto insurance. Have to have an SUV? Pay the piper. On the other hand, if you can be content with a modest little Ford Escort or its equivalent, you will be rewarded with lower insurance premiums. Before you buy your next car, check with your insurance agent to find out how much it will cost to insure it. You might find the car isn't worth it because of the cost to insure it.

Your driving record.
Accidents plus tickets equal high premiums. In fact, this deadly combination can send premiums into the stratosphere. Typically, negative entries on your driving record stay there for three years. A combination of tickets and accidents would almost certainly put you into the category of a high-risk driver, and you would remain that way for the three years that the entries remain on your record. As an ex-insurance agent, I have seen some drivers paying in excess of $600 per month for one car. Fortunately, this is one thing you can change. It doesn't take a genius to know what to do. OBEY THE RULES OF THE ROAD, especially the speed limit.  Clean up your driving record and save thousands of dollars a year on auto insurance.

The type of driving you do.
Do you drive more than 12,000 miles per year? Do you use your car for business as does a real estate agent or a salesman? Do you commute more than 10 miles each way to work? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you are paying higher auto insurance premiums. The American auto insurance companies feels that the more time you spend on the road the greater the risk you impose. You can't do much about your job, but you could make some changes in the type of driving you do. OK, so if you need your car to do your job, that probably won't change. However, if you're a commuter, use public transportation. If you must drive, switch to a small, inexpensive car for commuting. Car-pool. Maybe you could tele-commute two days a week. Ride a bike to work or, if you don't like to work that hard, how about a scooter.

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