Insurance companies create opportunities for car insurance policy deductions by following the results of safety crash tests and trends in car safety statistics from accidents.  However the automobile industry is adding safety features faster than car insurance companies can test them.

Car safety features are a rising force that contributes to lower car insurance claims and accident injury and death rates, however insurance companies aren’t quick to offer deductions for safety features.  Don’t assume you’re going to arm your budget with car insurance deductions simply because you’ve armed your car with safety features galore.  Car manufacturers will rave about their new safety features, and safety organisations will promote their practicalities and plead for the safety features to become mandatory.  However, car insurance companies don’t take the manufacturer’s word that safety features work.  They want to see proven results over time.  Until time has passed and accident reports are collected and analyzed, the deductions for new safety feature aren’t likely to be included in a car insurance policy.

There are many new, unique safety features on the market in the latest hottest cars, however studies are showing that not all of these will promote a cheap insurance rate.  It’s not unusual for a new safety feature to be tested for three years or more before car insurance companies implement safety deductions into their policy features.  New safety features will not result in a lower insurance premium until it is demonstrated through history that the new safety features contribute to lower accident rates.  Asking your insurance company specifically which safety features will reduce your premium can go a long way in your car buying decision and your car insurance premium costs.

Ask questions.

To add to the ever-growing pile of insurance questions… We all know insurers consider things such as driving records (claims, accidents, tickets, etc…), age, characteristics of the area in which the car is parked/garaged, type of car, credit history (I BELIEVE I have named all of the most salient measures). However, other information is also collected such as your education, income level and occupation. Seems to be quite a lot of excess data for an auto insurance company. So, are any of these ever used in determining the cost?

I have a clean driving record since 1991. I insured my younger brother’s car a few years ago. He was in a couple accidents with alcohol playing the factor. The car title was under my name along with insurance. I want to compare insurance quotes but I honestly do not remember the dates of his accidents (3-4+ years ago?). If I find a cheaper rate, I want to make sure I am not dumped by the new insurance company for false information. How do I access the same information the insurance companies find for actual quotes? Since it was his name associated with the accidents and not mine, is there a unique database for this?