Susan
Phoenix,#2Consumer Comment
Sat, September 01, 2007
There are many things that can affect an insurance premium: Your age, the number of miles driven each year, the number of drivers in your household, how long you have been insured by the company, the number of vehicles in the household, tickets/accidents, security features of your vehicle, type of vehicle, age of vehicle, and coverages chosen...there might even be a few I've missed. All insurance companies offer different discounts and incentives for their insureds. But on the flip side, they also have to rate some drivers as riskier than others. You didn't state which of you was older (you or hubby) so I suspect that if your premium increased, that you might be the older of the two, placing you in the higher price category. The unfortunate reality is that the two riskiest driver age groups are the very young (newly licensed folks) and the elderly. There can be many different price point levels, but typically between the ages of 50 and 70 or 75 you will get the best ever pricing in your driving life (provided you don't have other issues like tickets or accidents) but will begin to see your premiums increase as you move through your late 70's, early 80's, late 80's and so forth. And the age groups get shorter and shorter as you get older and older. No one is being mean or is out to get you. It is just simple statistics. And if it wasn't age, it may be that there are other factors in your history. If hubby was driving the truck and had fewer accidents/tickets than you, his price for driving that vehicle would be lower. Once he passed on and you became the primary driver of that vehicle (every vehicle HAS to have a primary driver attached to it) your cost would be higher because you had more accidents/tickets than the previous primary driver had. These are two of the most likely possibilities. Beyond that, I am not sure what the issue is, but I am certain there is a legitimate cause for it. No need to play the age card. Statistically speaking, the matter speaks for itself: older drivers= higher risk (even if you've never had an accident, the potential is considered higher)=higher premiums.
Trevor
Anchorage,#3Consumer Suggestion
Fri, January 27, 2006
The rate increase could be any number of things, most likely because your husband was rated as the primary driver of his vehicle, and now it's rated as a vehicle without a primary driver. The insurance company's statistics apparently show that this is a higher risk based on past history. Not sure where you get the idea that insurance companies are 'evil' and that they try not to pay out any money to their insureds... I'd be curious to see what you would do if you had a catastrophe and you had no insurance policy.
Trevor
Anchorage,#4Consumer Suggestion
Fri, January 27, 2006
The rate increase could be any number of things, most likely because your husband was rated as the primary driver of his vehicle, and now it's rated as a vehicle without a primary driver. The insurance company's statistics apparently show that this is a higher risk based on past history. Not sure where you get the idea that insurance companies are 'evil' and that they try not to pay out any money to their insureds... I'd be curious to see what you would do if you had a catastrophe and you had no insurance policy.
Trevor
Anchorage,#5Consumer Suggestion
Fri, January 27, 2006
The rate increase could be any number of things, most likely because your husband was rated as the primary driver of his vehicle, and now it's rated as a vehicle without a primary driver. The insurance company's statistics apparently show that this is a higher risk based on past history. Not sure where you get the idea that insurance companies are 'evil' and that they try not to pay out any money to their insureds... I'd be curious to see what you would do if you had a catastrophe and you had no insurance policy.