How Your Job Affects Your Auto Insurance

There are so many things that affect auto insurance; you might not even be aware of all of them. For example, did you know that your job or profession can affect your premium rates? How is this knowledge important? Do some professionals or workers need to switch jobs to enjoy reduced premiums? You might not have to change your jobs to enjoy lower premium rates, but you will know how to counteract the effects on your job.

Perceived Risk

According to many insurers, some professions seem to attract more risk-prone people than others; or is it that risk-prone people are attracted to particular jobs? Whatever the case, there is a correlation between risk aversion and the type of job you do.  For example, insurers believe that analytical professionals such as pilots and engineers tend to be more risk averse than stockbrokers. Therefore, you might have to pay higher premiums if you are a stockbroker as compared to an engineer.

Annual Mileage

By their nature, some professions require more frequent driving or longer commute than others. As you know, your yearly mileage is one of the indicators insurers use to calculate premiums. This is because the more you drive, the higher the likelihood that you may be involved in a mishap.

Therefore, if you are a home inspector, land surveyor or a reporter, then it is likely that you will have higher mileage than, say, a school teacher. This is even more likely if the school teacher lives close to his or her place of work.

Stress

How stressful is your job? Although many people believe that their jobs are stressful, some professions tend to be more stressful than others. Typical people with high-stress jobs include firefighters, police officers, public relation executives and newspaper reporters.

These people have to work long or odd hours, which make them more prone to lack of sleep and increase their accident risks. As a result, they are likely to pay higher auto insurance premiums than others with less stressful jobs such as hairstylists, audiologists and tenured university professors.

Knowing whether your job makes you attract higher insurance premiums can help you to take the appropriate mitigative measures. For example, if you are a firefighter who rarely drives his or her personal car, then you should stress this to your insurer. On the flip side, you should also let your insurer know if you are in one of the so-called safe professions so that you can enjoy the associated low premiums.

If you are looking to lower your insurance rates, then consider shopping around for a new policy by checking out a company like Griffin-Rahn Insurance Agency Inc.