Reader’s Question:

Hi, I just moved to Colorado from Florida. I still hold a Florida State license. I am just wondering if I should wait until I change my Florida license to Colorado before I buy auto insurance? Are my auto insurance rate dictated by the state I hold my license?

Lorie

Colorado Springs, CO

Auto insurance rates are not necessarily dictated by the state of the license you hold which is in Florida but generally by other factors such as age, your driving record, driving experience, and your geographical location. The geographical location should be where you are a resident of and your vehicle is garaged, therefore the state and town which you are currently living in.

According to the CO DMV if you have recently moved to Colorado, you must apply for a CO title and registration for your vehicle within thirty days from establishing Colorado residency. You must show proof of insurance to your county clerk before registration can happen. You may use your insurance card, a letter from your insurance company (on the company’s letterhead paper), or copy of your insurance policy as proof of insurance.

It is a personal decision if you want to wait buy insurance until after you have changed your license from a Florida one to a Colorado issued driver’s license but if you wait to change over your insurance from Florida to CO you should make certain that your Florida insurance carrier will cover you properly until this is done.

Reader’s Question:

Why does my auto insurance provider wants to know the ages and names of all children in our household over ten years old? Are they going to use this information to raise our insurance premium?

Meg

Houston, TX

There are a lot of reasons for this request. For some carriers, it is a state requirement to list all household requirements. It is typically for the coverage exposure or more importantly liability exposure. It does not affect the insurance rate, but the information is used to track down claim information at the time of loss. Some car insurance providers require to know the names and ages your children that live in your household and are over the age of ten so that they can keep track of potential (future) motorists. Some auto insurance policyholders do not inform insurance carriers when children in their households get their permits or licenses and therefore fails pay the proper increase in insurance premium.

Your insurance provider should not be able to use this information of non-licensed children in your household to increase your rates or charge you more. You may want to speak with your insurance company directly why they are requesting this information. If you do not receive a response or one that is not satisfactory to you, you can always contact your state’s insurance regulator. The insurance regulator should then look into your insurance company’s reason for asking this information and their rating system and then reply back to you.

Reader’s Question:

What are auto insurance rate factors you can change on you auto insurance to lower it?

Anna

Portland, OR

In many states insurance carriers allowed to set up their own rates and do so by using certain rating factors or risk factors to determine a driver’s car insurance rate. These factors are essential because statistically they can assist determine those drivers that will be more of a risk for an insurance company and therefore their rates will be higher. The factors are essential for a motorist or policyholder to know so that they are sufficiently informed on what criteria their rates are set.

Some of the factors that most insurance providers use are: age, gender, marital status, geography, driving record, claims history, vehicle type, occupation, education etc.

Rating factors that you can change more easily than others are the type of cars you drive, the limits of your policy and the miles driven each year.