One of the best tips for saving money on car insurance is to keep your driving record clean. Don’t get tickets for speeding, don’t get into accidents, and you should save money. But even if you’ve done everything correctly, and you have a clean driving record, you may find yourself asking “Why is my car insurance so high with a clean record?” It’s a good question, and it’s a question that has confused many drivers. Here’s what you need to know…

Is Your Car Insurance High With a Clean Record?

It’s frustrating to get high car insurance quotes when you’ve done everything you can to keep a clean driving record, but there could be a good reason that your rates are still too high.

The first thing to consider is that you could simply be getting quotes from a less-competitive car insurance company. It’s important to get quotes from a number of different providers, or at least to find the ones who will build you a perfectly-fitting plan that has all of the coverage that you need, and none of the bells and whistles that you don’t need.

Beyond that, even with a perfect driving record, there are a number of things that can drive up the costs of your car insurance:

  • Age: Why is car insurance expensive for new drivers? The age of the driver who is seeking insurance has a big impact on the rate for one main reason. Younger drivers are considered to be less experienced and more reckless, thus more likely to be involved in an accident. Many young drivers are incredibly responsible, but insurance companies still see them as a higher risk to insure, thus they will have to pay more. If you can have insurance in your parents’ name, this is one way around it.
  • Gender: The gender of a driver can also impact the rates, more significantly in some places than others. Younger men will generally end up paying a bit more, since they’re statistically more likely to end up costing the insurance money by requiring a claim to be paid.
  • Location: Some parts of the country have higher rates of accidents, lower rates of other drivers with insurance, more dangerous terrain, and all of this can influence how much it will cost to insure a vehicle.
  • Vehicle: Some vehicles are more expensive to insure than others, so even if you haven’t gotten into any accidents or gotten any tickets, you could still be paying a premium if you drive one of the more costly vehicles. These costs are determined by the price of the vehicle, how much it typically costs to repair, how much damage it may cause to other vehicles, and more.
  • Payment frequency: Sometimes, you can save money by paying more of your policy upfront, as opposed to making monthly payments. This won’t have a huge impact on it, but every little bit adds up.

Here’s some advice for saving money on your auto insurance.

Why is my truck insurance so high?

It can be more expensive to insure trucks than cars, but it really depends on the above factors, along with which truck and car we’re talking about. If a truck is much more valuable than a car, it’s more expensive to replace it, so that alone will be a factor.

Beyond that, trucks are larger and can cause more damage. If you hit someone with a huge truck, instead of with a small car, there’s more potential for injury and damage to be caused, which the insurance company wants to factor in to the rates they charge people who own trucks.

A larger vehicle is also more prone to come into contact with various obstacles, or to be hit by another driver. Something that might be a near-miss in a small car could end up being a collision in a truck.

Still, if you’re a responsible truck driver with a clean driver record, it may feel costly but those two things alone will help keep your rate low. Use our tools to find the best rates, and keep driving safely, and you’ll end up paying as little for car insurance as possible while still retaining the level of coverage that you need.