College Student Car Insurance
Car insurance is mandatory at whatever age. Insurance companies have classified drivers to their personal circumstances allowing for a gradiated scale of risks per group and their equivalent premium rates. In this scenario, college students fall within the highest bracketed risk group and thus are charged higher for their insurances. This is because historically, college student drivers figure in more mishaps, accidents and pile-ups than any other group. With this data, insurance companies, and even the drivers themselves, causing great monetary, physical and equipment damage. And as a consequence, they are charged for higher premium rates.
The average cost of insurance for a college student is between $1500 up until about $4500 per year. Males would be paying the higher end, while women are perceived to be a lesser risk on the road and thus liable for a lower premium rate. This is a rather prohibitive cost for a student struggling to make ends meet each month, which includes car payments. So what happens is that the student decides to scrimp on insurance. As previously stated, this is both illegal and is a gamble on one’s end. Without insurance, if an individual meets an accident and injury resulted from this, then the student is on not only for civil suits but also be criminally liable as well. Their license would be suspended or even revoked and may even be subject to court proceedings. So even if one is financially strapped, one still needs to comply with the law and thus one needs to have insurance for one’s vehicle.
All is not lost for students when it comes to car insurance. Even though the age group poses the highest risk, reduction of rates can be done. Some insurance companies offer discounts for students who are academically proficient, usually those with a GPA of 3.0 or above. The reason for this is that one is a lesser risk as a driver if one is responsible in school. Being on the honor roll or have a dean’s list commendation also assists in lowering the interest rates for installment premiums. Rural area students have lower rates compared to those going to school in urban areas. Having one’s accommodations near one’s school also helps to lessen the risk and with that lower premium rates. Having a new sports car would surely shoot the roof off insurance premium rates. This also applies to ownership of convertibles, but the reverse is true for bigger but newer cars. The reason for this rate appreciation is that sports cars drive faster thus a higher risk. A convertible offers less protection as would a sedan, and thus higher risk. Higher risks present translates to higher premium rates. So having more safety features in a vehicle such as airbags, car alarms and anti lock braking system helps minimize costs and make insurance rates lower. Another factor is if one has good credit ratings, then insurance costs can also be lowered. Driving within the rules also lowers rates, but citations for traffic violations would surely make rates dramatically increase.
See: Gas cards
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