Whether it’s a new place in the same city, or a new city on the other side of the country, you might be surprised how a move can affect your car insurance. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t changed cars or had any brushes with the law, the simple act of relocation can cause the premiums on your car to go up or down. But why? Calculating the price of insurance uses many factors you may not think matter, but that have statistical changes on the chance of getting into an accident.
Zip Code
You might be surprised how much a change in the scenery can change your premiums. While a zip code in a low-traffic area might lower your insurance due to a lower chance of encountering cars on the road, another place with higher traffic—even street policies that raise the chance of collision (yellow light times, width of lanes)—can have a negative impact on your premiums. If you’re a country mouse moving to the big apple, expect a hike in your insurance.
Daily Commute
Your travel might be for a new job, or you might be keeping the job but moving to a new location. Either way, if your commute distance is longer than it was before, your premiums may increase as well. This does make a certain amount of sense—at least from the analyst’s perspective: the more you drive on a daily basis, the high your chances of getting into an accident become. On the other hand, if your new job is closer, or you now work from home, you might get a drop in your insurance prices.
Type of Driving
Depending on your job, or a change in your commute from public transportation to a personal vehicle, you may have had to change your type of driving for the vehicle from “pleasure” to “business” or even “commercial” if you start your own business. Each of these has an increase of rates as each shows an incrementally higher use of your vehicle and therefore more time on the road and a chance of an accident.
Single
Sometimes you have to move away because things didn’t work out between you and a spouse. After moving due to a messy breakup or as part of a divorce, it can come as salt in the wounds when you find out your premiums have increased as well. Again, statistics raise their ugly heads and point out that married couples are less likely to get into car accidents.
You rarely think about how moving will affect our car insurance—you just don’t have the time. Taking the plunge and packing up your worldly possessions doesn’t leave much room to think about the traffic in the area you’re moving to or how the change in commute times might change your insurance bill. If you’re interested in learning more about how your migrations might affect your insurance, or if you’re thinking about changing your car insurance after getting burned by your current provider, please contact TJ Woods Insurance and our agents will help guide you through the changes as well as providing a free quote on a new plan.
