No Tickets, But My Car Insurance Rates Went Up? Deer, Moving, and No Fault Claims

Everyone knows that your driving record has an impact on your insurance rates. After all, if you are a safe driver, the insurance company is taking less of a risk by insuring you. If you are an unsafe driver - as evidenced by numerous speeding tickets and other moving violations - the insurance company estimates that your odds of being in an accident are much greater, and thus, your annual premiums will be higher.

But what if you’re a perfectly safe driver with no tickets and your rates go up? Is the insurance company trying to take advantage of you? Maybe. But more likely, there are legitimate reasons why you’re being asked to pay higher premiums. Here are a few potential answers to the question, “Why are my rates going up?”

Have You Moved?

The area in which you live affects your car insurance rates. If you move from the country to a densely populated urban area with more traffic, you’re more likely to get in an accident simply because there are more cars on the road. Furthermore, insurance companies analyze the total number of claims originating from specific geographic regions. Perhaps you’ve moved into a city with particularly bad drivers, which increases the insurance company’s risk, and whenever you cause the insurance company to take on more risk, you’re going to have to pay for it.

Worse yet, maybe the area you’ve moved to has higher incidents of car theft. If you have comprehensive / other-than-collision (OTC) coverage, this is undoubtedly going to lead to higher premiums. If you have minimal coverage and you move out of state, perhaps your new state has more stringent minimum requirements which result in higher rates.

Have You Filed Any Insurance Claims?

Your insurance rates can go up when you file a claim, even if the reason for filing the claim doesn’t seem to be your fault. For example, if you have comprehensive / OTC coverage, and you hit a deer, you have every right to file a claim. If two weeks after having your car fixed, you hit another deer and file another claim, your rates are likely to go up.

At first this may not seem fair. After all, you didn’t want to hit the poor deer! But look at things from the insurance company’s perspective: Hitting a deer two times in one month either means you’re not the world’s greatest driver or else you’re one of the unluckiest people on the planet. Either way, this translates into a higher risk for the insurance company that you’ll file yet another claim. If you are a bad driver, then you deserve to pay higher rates. If you’ve actually just been unlucky, then odds are that you’ll go a long time before you have to file another claim, and eventually, your rates will go back down.

To File Or Not To File

With this in mind, it’s important to consider whether or not it’s always worth it to file a claim. If you hit a deer and there’s substantial damage, then of course you should file a claim. But if falling hail cracks your windshield a week later, it might be better for you to pay out of pocket. After all, the fewer claims you file, the lower your rates will be.

Blame The Health Care System

Most states require you to have liability insurance to cover bodily injuries sustained in an accident. Auto insurance prices are thereby tied to health insurance costs, and health care costs have been skyrocketing year after year. There’s not a whole lot you can do about this, but you can save yourself some money by being a safe driver. The fewer tickets you get or claims you file, the less likely you are (in the insurance company’s eyes) to injure yourself or others, and therefore the less you’ll be impacted by the rising cost of health care.

Saving Money - It’s Just Common Sense

Although insurance costs are probably always going to go up over time, you can save yourself money by always observing traffic laws, keeping yourself and your car out of dangerous situations, and always comparison shopping for the best auto insurance coverage that you can find. If your rates are up and you think it’s unfair, then simply shop around to some other insurance agents and agencies. It can’t hurt, and if you learn a little about the insurance business in the meantime, it could mean a lifetime of savings.