Who Will Insure a Driver with a Bad Driving Record?

It’s a well known fact that anyone who has an “eventful” driving history full of tickets and accidents is going to pay much higher auto insurance rates than a driver who does not have one single accident or traffic ticket. Although some drivers may not care how their driving history appears, they should note that it will become more and more expensive to insure their vehicle and themselves with every traffic incident. Not everyone can afford to spend an entire paycheck on their auto insurance premium. Also, any auto insurance provider can get to the point where they feel the driver they are insuring is too risky of a driver as evidenced by the number of claims made or tickets reported. The insurance company can drop the insurance they were providing to any driver who demonstrates a lack in ability to drive safely. If drivers find themselves continually in the situation where their insurer refuses to supply insurance, they may begin to wonder, who will provide the insurance I need to drive?

While looking for an insurance company to insure a driver with a not-so-clean driving history, the driver should be avidly working on cleaning up their driving record. If possible, any recent traffic tickets should be eliminated from the driving record by attending traffic school. This option of attending traffic school is usually given within a certain number of days once the ticket has been issued, and after that time period, the option expires and the ticket is registered on the driving record. The insurance company is then notified, who makes record of it and increases the driver’s insurance rates.

Learning about and making a conscious effort to follow the traffic laws in the areas where the driver goes will help decrease the number of incidents that occur. Know what the speed limit is no matter what road you are traveling. Too often drivers do not realize what speed they are traveling at until a traffic officer points it out as a ticket is being written. Paying attention to and knowing what speed limits are usually in certain areas (neighborhoods, highways, etc.) will help. Also, be aware of traffic signs that indicate changes in the road. These signs of changes include the start and end of school zones and construction zones, where the fines for speeding double in these areas. Watch for stop signs and yield signs and travel at least three seconds behind the driver in front of you to better avoid collisions. Include plenty of time for travel to avoid speeding to make up time, and stay calm while driving to steer clear of any road rage.

In an effort to clean up a driving record, encourage the driver to drive less while keeping the registration and driver’s license current. Carpooling or taking the bus to and from work or other destinations will lower the number of miles put on the owned vehicle, as well as keeping the driver off the road which prevents additional traffic incidents. Because cleaning up a driving record involves waiting for a period of time before incidents are removed from the record, it is best to do all things necessary to help speed that process up and not add anything to it.

There are high risk auto insurance companies who will provide their insurance to drivers who cannot find insurance anywhere else due to their mishaps on the road. These high risk drivers will not be able to rely on just any company to provide insurance, nor should they expect to pay at inexpensive rates either. However, the longer you are with an insurance company and aren’t letting the policy lapse, the better are the chances that the rates will decrease over time. Begin your search for auto insurance here on our site by entering in your zip code on our homepage.

Finding a company to provide insurance to someone who has a history of bad driving is most of the time a tedious and time consuming experience. However, no one can really blame the auto insurance industry. They make their money when people pay for insurance and never (or very rarely) make a claim for damages to be paid. When insurers regularly pay for damages made by the same driver, they begin to realize they are losing profit with this high risk driver and increase the premiums for the policy or cancel the policy altogether. Insurance companies see drivers as a high risk when they behave in a manner that will lead them to needing the insurer to pay for damages by making a claim. The higher the risk, the higher the premium price.

When a troubled driver has a current auto insurance policy, there are ways to help make that policy cheaper as time goes on. As mentioned earlier, driving safely to avoid additional marks on the driving record will help with the progressive decline in rates. Another method that has been used is to drive and insure a vehicle that is older, one that does not need comprehensive or collision coverage. Eliminating coverage will lower an insurance premium, but the risk must be weighed. If it would cost more to carry comprehensive and/or collision than the total value of the car, don’t purchase it and save money.

Some insurance companies offer classes that drivers may take to learn how to drive with more caution. These are called defensive driving courses, and if passed, the driver can earn a discount on their premium for a few years. Even if it’s a small discount, it can be coupled with other ways of lowering the cost of insurance to see some big changes in the final price.

Don’t get discouraged if you are a driver experiencing difficulty finding or keeping auto insurance due to misfortunes on the road. Take responsibility and discover what can be done on your end to become a better driver. These efforts will pay off as insures begin to see the positive changes and they will become more willing to offer their services at reasonable prices. Because of state law, you must have auto insurance to drive. Look at auto insurance companies and decide what they can provide to you both short and long term.

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Usage-Based Car Insurance: The Freedom to Choose in California - and Elsewhere

The next big thing in car insurance could be a small device placed in your vehicle that tracks your driving habits and determines just how safe a driver you are. In California, usage-based insurance savings could be worth an average of $276 per vehicle for the majority of state households (according to a report by the Brookings Institution) but many are concerned about the potential loss of privacy.

How Does it Work?
Proposition 103 requires insurers to set their insurance rates based upon specific factors, including the number of miles driven each year. Assembly Bill 2800, which passed in the California Senate Appropriations Committee, allows insurers to more accurately base premiums using mileage information.

Consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog expressed concerns around the bill, stating that the bill "...would force drivers to choose between fair insurance rates and protecting their privacy."

However, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, proposed a plan with three options for reporting mileage:

• with electronic monitoring of mileage
• submission of maintenance records or
• having regular odometer checks by insurance company representatives.

Poizner's proposal would maintain the incentive of usage-based insurance while giving consumers more freedom to choose exactly how the information would be gathered.

The Company Line
The LA Times reported that most insurance companies were generally in favor of the plan. Annual mileage is an important factor in setting insurance premiums: fewer miles driven means fewer accidents and lower rates. Insurance companies are also intrigued by the fascinating—and potentially disturbing—additional information that some of the electronic monitoring devices can report, helping those companies determine which drivers are more likely to have accidents—and who should pay more for insurance.

A Real World Example—MyRate℠ by Progressive
Progressive's MyRate℠ program is a usage-based insurance program that uses an installed device similar to that of the usage-based proposal, though their device and program are more sophisticated. Their device uses cell phone technology to call a central computer to report driving information to the company. It's being tested in several states before a national rollout, once regulatory approval is attained.

Richard Hutchinson, Progressive's MyRate℠ General Manager, said that the program was designed "...primarily for lower-risk drivers who are consistent and safe. They drive at low risk times of day and they keep alert for others on the road. They don't make fast lane changes or follow too closely behind other drivers so they don't have to over-react or slam on the brakes."

While the MyRate℠ program differs from the California proposal in that it tracks more than just mileage, these additional factors relating to the driver's behavior are reported back to the insurance company and are part of an overall assessment and combine to either lower rates—or raise them.

Winners and Losers
Usage-based car insurance is best suited for low-mileage drivers. If you drive more miles than you have reported to your company in the past, you may find your premiums increasing, regardless of your driving habits.

Currently rates are based on the information actually reported to the companies by the drivers. Most drivers estimate annual mileage, and few realize that there may already be potential discounts available if they drive less than 10,000 miles each year. Sometimes these potential savings don't come up until drivers compare rates between auto insurance companies.

Save Money, Save the World?
Environment Defense, a nonprofit environmental group, estimates that usage-based car insurance could reduce driving and congestion by 10% to 12%, while reducing air pollution and other negative environmental impact from vehicles. With fewer cars on the road, the number of accidents and injuries could also fall.

Risk Versus Reward
Some of the main objections will always revolve around privacy. While the legislation and counter-proposal in California currently revolve around only mileage tracking, eventually most of these devices will contain GPS technology, allowing insurance companies to not only track how far and how fast you've traveled, but also where and when. These are all risk factors determining your premium. For some people, this level of transparency and disclosure is totally unacceptable, and not worth any amount of insurance savings. For others, with nothing to hide, paying less for car insurance might prove very tempting indeed.

What Would You Do?
So, are the potential savings worth it? Would you voluntarily place a tracking device in your vehicle for auto insurance savings? Let us know!

Nitrogen in Tires: Hot Air or a Cool Breeze?

Recently, you may have seen articles or news reports about the advantages of replacing the air in your tires with pure nitrogen. Claims range from improved handling and pressure stability to gas mileage and tire life. Is there really any advantage to having pure nitrogen in your tires, especially given the price per tire for this service?

The air that you normally put into your tires is 78 percent nitrogen already, with the rest being mostly oxygen (21 percent) and other various gases (that remaining 1 percent).

Pure nitrogen is just that - 100 percent nitrogen gas with no other gases present. Many car dealers and other locations offer nitrogen fill ups, with more locations appearing every day. It's estimated by getnitrogen.org that there are over 11,000 dealers in the United States as of October 8, 2008.

Some people claim that they do get much improved handling with nitrogen in their tires, while others don't notice any difference. Much of this may come down to the road condition and the kind of vehicle driven, but it may also be a personal preference for tire pressure too. Regardless, driving your car with the tires at the manufacturer's recommended pressure will improve your gas mileage over time, and reduce tire wear, saving you money.

One of the main advantages of having pure nitrogen in your tires instead of plain old air is the lack of water vapor present. Ordinary air can have a lot of moisture in it, and as the temperature changes, this water vapor can condense and reform. This can and does change your tire pressure, as it forces the air inside your tires to expand and contract. Over a long period this not only changes the pressure, it can cause wear and tear on your tires. That said, it's fairly minor, and the difference between pure nitrogen and air won't make a significant difference to your finances or driving efficiency, other than to cost you money for the nitrogen tire fill in the first place.

The oxygen present in air causes oxidation inside your tires, responsible for rust and degradation of rubber. Pure nitrogen doesn't. Again, it's such a small amount of wear over a long period of time (on a part of your car that will need to be replaced after a certain length of time anyway) that it doesn't really make a big difference, especially if you're being charged for your nitrogen top-ups. Giving that small amounts of oil and water may get into your tires when you use standard air supplies provided at gas stations (professionals probably keep their equipment in better condition) it's unlikely your tires will see any real advantage from nitrogen over air.

Consumer Reports ran a yearlong study on the subject, and concluded that any slight improvement gained by filling tires with pure nitrogen was not a replacement for regularly checking for proper inflation, regardless of what's in your tires. If you can get your tires filled with nitrogen for free (as part of a deal with new tires, for example) it's probably not a bad idea - the advantages are minor, but a free advantage is always a good one. Otherwise just keep checking your tire pressure regularly and keep them topped up with ordinary air (which, remember, is already 78 percent nitrogen) instead.

What do you think about putting nitrogen in tires? Let us know!