Whether it‘s for a car, van or HGV, the cost of your policy is usually a direct reflection of how much of a risk you are perceived to be by your insurance company. The term ‘high-risk’ is thrown around a lot when people talk about insurance, but what does it really mean to be high-risk? Here are some of the factors that insurance companies take into account…
Gender? Not anymore!
It used to be the case that simply being born a male made you a high-risk candidate when it comes to vehicle insurance. Thankfully for you men, this is no longer the case, but unfortunately you won’t see your car or van insurance become cheaper. Instead, the price of insurance for women has risen to meet that of men, so nobody really gains anything. Whilst this might be frustrating for female drivers, it’s important that insurance companies don’t discriminate against gender and instead operate fairly, treating customers the same regardless of their gender.
Occupation
Believe it or not, insurance companies perceive some jobs to be much more of a high-risk than others. Some of these so called high-risk jobs might actually seem quite low risk to you, but you’ve got to think like an insurer to understand it. Those with non-standard or ‘high-risk’ occupations include DJs and scrap metal dealers, not lion keepers and racing drivers as the dramatic wording might suggest. If you’re likely to keep valuable equipment in your vehicle (like a DJ might) then you could be a risk to an insurance company should your vehicle get broken in to. It’s as simple as that. When getting a quote, try tweaking your job description to see if it makes any difference to the price, or give it a go on the Money Saving Expert job picker tool. Something as simple as changing ‘journalist’ to ‘writer’ could end up saving you some cash, but make sure you’re being truthful and accurate.
Security
If you don’t have access to a driveway or garage with your property, then the harsh reality is that insurers will deem you as a higher risk than someone who does, so your quote is likely to be a little higher. You could try to make up the difference by having extra security fitted to your vehicle, such as an immobiliser, which often brings down the price of your quote.