Insurance at age 25??

[Qdemption]

I turn 25 in april. What is it about turning 25 and insurance? Do your rates drop? I don't get it.

I have to get insurance and I was wondering if anyone was particalurly fluent in this subject. I have had a handful of tickets in the past years.

Ohh lets see.... Moving Violations: 3 speeding tickets. One failure to stop at a stop sign.

One of my speeding violations was about 4 years ago and the other two came within weeks of one another at almost 3 years ago. My failure to stop was in this past December.

Other than those I have had 7 expired tag tix, 1 unregistered motor vehicle, 1 seat belt violation, and 1 defective tag light.

These are among many warnings given as well. But those don't count.

So does your slate get cleaned when you turn 25? Or am I just imagining things?

[Bunta240]

Ive never heard of your slate getting cleaned at 25. Car history lasts forever as far as I know.

[DAEDALUS]

Man, your record's a mess. Some of those are probably not moving violations, so they won't affect insurance. In CA at least a seat belt violation is simply an "annoyance" ticket. $25. Policies vary from company to company, and laws vary from state to state. Most rules are similar across the board. 25 simply puts you in a lower risk tier, so your rates often decrease at that age. Older and wiser supposedly. But no, the slate doesn't get wiped clean. And the risk tier may not apply at all if you have stuff on your record. A lot of times things will drop off after 3 years, but I think that one depends on the company.

[Qdemption]

Dang!! I was hoping for some slate cleanage.

I am almost certain the non-movings don't count. The seat belt thing in Georgia is a pain. 95 dollars even. The State patrol sets up traps on on-ramps to catch the violaters. Click it or Ticket, they call it.

I just checked out some insurance quotes on-line and the rates were not too bad. I won't be covered on much, but that is where my taggarts defensive driving school comes into play to avoid any unwanted collisions.

[s14kid316]

25 is the age at which the underwriters believe that most men become more responsible, therefore the y lower your rates.

The only 2 major rate changes are at age 25 and when you get married.

It still depends on you record tho.......bad record, means high rates.

friggin con artists.....they take my money and never give it back.......gonna get even one day i tell you!:ylsuper

[s14kid316]

Man, your record's a mess. Some of those are probably not moving violations, so they won't affect insurance. In CA at least a seat belt violation is simply an "annoyance" ticket. $25. Policies vary from company to company, and laws vary from state to state. Most rules are similar across the board. 25 simply puts you in a lower risk tier, so your rates often decrease at that age. Older and wiser supposedly. But no, the slate doesn't get wiped clean. And the risk tier may not apply at all if you have stuff on your record. A lot of times things will drop off after 3 years, but I think that one depends on the company.

No seatbelt in WA state is a moving violation and costs 101$!!!

[DAEDALUS]

Yeah, I got one last year. Thought for sure it was like $200+, but maybe I was thinking of another state I've been in. I was just too freaking happy to give $25 for getting pulled over. No flames please. I normally wear my seatbelt, but I was only going about 1 mile, in a residential neighborhood.

[s14kid316]

Cops are ruthless. Damn money grubbers!

[hudy]

When I asked my insurer about the 25 years old rate drop she said they would. But it didn't go down dramatically. I asked her about it and she said they would go down more when I hit 26. I think they stay the same and they just charge higher amounts to newer motorists. ?? Whatever., can't drive without it. The first accident I was involved in the other driver was drunk and had no insurance. I finally got the money for the accident last year, it occured in 95. Screwed up, I get a check in the mail for damage to a car I don't even own anymore.

It is irritating to reregister my car and all I need to do to prove I have insurance is sign a piece of paper saying I have it. Don't need to show anyone anything, just sign that paper. They need to fix that.

[SmithSR]

Who here has used GEICO? I'm thinking about switching.

[SDRonEbay]

Don't forget, insurance companies are also using credit these days in quoting rates. So you have to keep your driving record and your credit clean. GEICO was always good to me. There is a number this guy gave me....1-800-SAFE-AUTO. They are supposed to have good rates but I can't say for sure. Good luck. All I can tell you is that my insurance only dropped a couple of bucks when I turned 25 and none when I got married.

[DAEDALUS]

Cops are ruthless. Damn money grubbers!

This guy was pretty cool with me. I was polite from the start, and he let me know right away that the ticket was no big deal. Showed him my license, got the ticket quickly, and I was on my way. This lady that got pulled over with me (2 lane all-way stop) had a lot of attitude. "What? Why? WHY?" He wasn't so cool with her. "License, insurance and registration, ma'am?" was what I heard as I pulled away. Cops issuing tickets are doing their job. Some are nice, some aren't. If you really think about it, I'd rather be the guy getting one ticket than a cop giving them out all day. THAT would suck.

Realize that tickets and other fines are merely another form of tax. It's revenue for the city/state that's levied against a certain demographic--bad drivers--since it's easy to convince the public that bad drivers are OK to tax and fine. Quotas are tossed around, in writing or only spoken, and in most places more tickets are handed out toward the end of the month than the beginning. Budget plans partly depend on reliable and consistent income.

If you get pulled over always be polite to the officer. Even if you do get a ticket, he writes little notes on it that you don't see...but which the judge sees if you have to go to court. Piss off the cop, and he'll write ND on the hardcopy...NO DEAL.

[Qdemption]

Are you serious? They check your credit now??

Dude, I hate this crap. My credit is in exponential vortex to hell. It is a mathmatical anomaly. Any attempt to check it could spell detramental consequences to the space time continuem. You know when Doc told Marty that coming in contact with his future self would unravel time itself, yeah it is like that.

So they can check it if they want, don't say I didn't warn them though.

[DAEDALUS]

I think you have to sign something first...federal credit protection laws or something like that. Kind of like applying for insurance maybe. What sucks is that running too many credit checks is bad for your credit rating. Don't shop around too much for that home loan...your interest rate could go up because of you trying to get a good deal.

[SmithSR]

Let's face it, there is almost no way to not 'hurt' your credit rating, within today's conditions: random job loss, late payments, unexpected eventualities, many people living paycheck-to-paycheck...

I just checked with GEICO, 24hr service, I'm very impressed with them BTW... They're able to offer me significant savings over Allstate, per month. That's all I care about right now. Insurance is a necessary evil.

[s14kid316]

This guy was pretty cool with me. I was polite from the start, and he let me know right away that the ticket was no big deal. Showed him my license, got the ticket quickly, and I was on my way. This lady that got pulled over with me (2 lane all-way stop) had a lot of attitude. "What? Why? WHY?" He wasn't so cool with her. "License, insurance and registration, ma'am?" was what I heard as I pulled away. Cops issuing tickets are doing their job. Some are nice, some aren't. If you really think about it, I'd rather be the guy getting one ticket than a cop giving them out all day. THAT would suck.

Realize that tickets and other fines are merely another form of tax. It's revenue for the city/state that's levied against a certain demographic--bad drivers--since it's easy to convince the public that bad drivers are OK to tax and fine. Quotas are tossed around, in writing or only spoken, and in most places more tickets are handed out toward the end of the month than the beginning. Budget plans partly depend on reliable and consistent income.

If you get pulled over always be polite to the officer. Even if you do get a ticket, he writes little notes on it that you don't see...but which the judge sees if you have to go to court. Piss off the cop, and he'll write ND on the hardcopy...NO DEAL.

I guess it depends on the Officer too. Ive ran in to a few who if you are cool then they are cool, and Ive ran into a few where it dont matter how cool you are they are still pricks. They could be having bad days too, but when a cop has a bad day and he takes it out on the public, all they do is hurt the image of the city, state, or county he represents.

[Qdemption]

I have a standard operating procedure that I follow when I see those blues behind me. It seems to aid in reducing the chances in me receiving a ticket.

Hazards are 1st and foremost. I never ever pull off to the side of the road, by pulling off to the side of the road you are not only putting your life in danger but the cops as well. I always find a suitable place, like a parking lot or gas station to pull into.

This shows the cop you are thinking about his safety and yours.

Next is to turn your dome light on and put your hands on the top of your steering wheel. Cops notice this stuff. You have used your body language to communicate to the cop that you are not a threat to him, allowing him full control. They love that.

The rest just depends on the situation. I have successfully avoided one DUI and one DWI by being cordial, following my SOP, and trying to make some sort of connection with them. They are people after all and some are actually really nice individuals.

sorry, this is so off topic, I am a little scatter brained right now.

[SDRonEbay]

I think you have to sign something first...federal credit protection laws or something like that.

Yeppers. It's called a Privacy Act Agreement. It's used everywhere now. Dealerships, insurance companies, hospitals. It's important that this document is on file because of the way people are suing for Identity Fraud and Theft. That PAA says that you give the company your at permission to not only run your credit but to keep it on file. Credit aps may be kept for at least two years.

And your right again, everytime your credit is run you take a hit plus the inquiries accumulate at the bottom of your report.

[blue eyes]

i thought it was 25 for women and 27 for men or maybe even 30 i am pretty sure that the age is different.....but there is also ways of getting discounts on your ins...like if you are a college student, single parent, in the military, and so on (even when all that is on your record )

[DAEDALUS]

Depends probably. I would think discounts are gimmicky in some ways and determined by each company. I've got good driver, multi-vehicle, multi-policy, professional, and repeat customer discounts where I'm at. I pay less for 3 vehicles than some coworkers pay for 1. Of course, my newest vehicle is 9 years old!

[C-Kwik]

Are you serious? They check your credit now??

Dude, I hate this crap. My credit is in exponential vortex to hell. It is a mathmatical anomaly. Any attempt to check it could spell detramental consequences to the space time continuem. You know when Doc told Marty that coming in contact with his future self would unravel time itself, yeah it is like that.

So they can check it if they want, don't say I didn't warn them though.

Considering insurance companies have to assess the risk of you having a claim solely on information about you, this should have been looked into years ago. They have no way of knowing what type fo driver you really are. Especially if you are a newer customer. Statistically, they have found people with bad credit tend to have more losses. They are also a higher risk for fraud. But I'm not sure that particular part can be factored in or not, but from a claims standpoint, one motive for fraud is a bad financial situation.

[Qdemption]

"Considering insurance companies have to asses the risk of you having a claim solely on information about you, this should have been looked into years ago. They have no way of knowing what type of driver you really are." -----C-Kwik

Then what in the hell is the purpose of a Motor Vehicle Record??

Please tell me. See I thought they kept a record of your motor vehicle experiences. But, obviously I am wrong and you are right in order to assess my driving abilities, insurance companies should look at everything other than my driving record.

You can make whatever statistcal comparisons you want, in the end it is irrelevant.

edit: sorry, I still have yet to figure out the whole quote thing...

[C-Kwik]

"Considering insurance companies have to asses the risk of you having a claim solely on information about you, this should have been looked into years ago. They have no way of knowing what type of driver you really are." -----C-Kwik

Then what in the hell is the purpose of a Motor Vehicle Record??

Please tell me. See I thought they kept a record of your motor vehicle experiences. But, obviously I am wrong and you are right in order to assess my driving abilities, insurance companies should look at everything other than my driving record.

You can make whatever statistcal comparisons you want, in the end it is irrelevant.

edit: sorry, I still have yet to figure out the whole quote thing...

A motor vehicle record only tells part of the story. Insurance companies are always striving to enhance their ability to predict their future claims payments. On an individual basis, it would be very difficult to predict if a person will be involved in an accident and to what extent the damages will be. But, using the law of large numbers, you can pretty accurately predict what the average payout will be. And the larger the control group, the more accurate the number. Using any available data that can show driver trends can be beneficial to both the company and the policyholders. Unless of course you are rated as a higher risk as a result. And on a large scale, this would be more fair anyways. Short of having an underwriter ride-a-long with every driver, I doubt there's anyway to really assess risk accurately to any absolute extent.

The key here is that it's more fair to charge the appropriate premium for a particular type of risk. This helps an insurance company to be more competetive and allows them to more accurately predict their future claims payments. This wil ensure the premiums reflect an amount they can make a reasonable profit with to keep stockholders happy and still be competetive.

[Qdemption]

Keep their stockholders happy huh. Well what about the customers??

It is an invasion of privacy. That is all I am trying to say. There are other, more creative means to assess insuring a driver.

You touched on one of them. The only way to fully understand their client (us) is to physically get in the car with them, simple as that.

Have companies hire professianal driver evaluators to ride in the car with the driver. It doesn't have to be a week. I can be just an hour session or so. Kind of like a driving instructor, but he/she would not instruct, they would evaluate. Put the driver through some hard nosed testing. The better the driver displays his/her knowledge of the road and it rules, the lower the risk of the driver.

What I don't appreciate is being profiled on my financial background in relation to how I am as a driver. I see absolutely no connection there.

anyways, bottomline is I don't like it, I feel like my privacy is being violated,

And just a quick question, you by chance don't happen to be a liberal, do you? There is nothing wrong with that, I was just wondering. I am kinda in the middle, more like a liberatarion. I think that is how you spell it.

[SmithSR]

For the record, from GEICO:

As a result of your recent rate quote or renewal, we obtained information about you from the consumer reporting agency listed below. That information was used in combination with other factors to determine the rate that you were provided.

Trans Union National Disclosure Center2 Baldwin Place, PO BOX 1000Chester, PA 19022or call 1(800)645-1938

The specific information provided by Trans Union that may have influenced our decision is:-Insufficient length of credit history (-)

...so, I'm 26yrs old, paid off loans on truck, bike, and quad, rented for years now, credit history dating back to 1996. This is how they treat us, the cattle.

[Jesda]

Check out Progressive. They will insure you based on your last 35 months. Since Ive been clean for 3 years, I saved big time.

-Jesda

[C-Kwik]

Keep their stockholders happy huh. Well what about the customers??

It is an invasion of privacy. That is all I am trying to say. There are other, more creative means to assess insuring a driver.

You touched on one of them. The only way to fully understand their client (us) is to physically get in the car with them, simple as that.

Have companies hire professianal driver evaluators to ride in the car with the driver. It doesn't have to be a week. I can be just an hour session or so. Kind of like a driving instructor, but he/she would not instruct, they would evaluate. Put the driver through some hard nosed testing. The better the driver displays his/her knowledge of the road and it rules, the lower the risk of the driver.

What I don't appreciate is being profiled on my financial background in relation to how I am as a driver. I see absolutely no connection there.

anyways, bottomline is I don't like it, I feel like my privacy is being violated,

And just a quick question, you by chance don't happen to be a liberal, do you? There is nothing wrong with that, I was just wondering. I am kinda in the middle, more like a liberatarion. I think that is how you spell it.

That's where the competiveness comes in. Customers are generally all happy with a good price. And that's not limited to just a low price, but a fair price. People who understand that they are a higher risk will pay what is fair. If using a financial record helps a company do that, I see nothing wrong with it.

The problem with testing drivers is cost. Who is going to pay for it? Basically, you are. The insurance company would likely set it up, but then the cost would then be added to everyone's premium. Nothing in life is free my friend. And I can't see this as being very cheap considering how many new policies are written each day.

As I said before, I don't see why insurance companies would do this unless it actually did help to make the underwriting process more accurate. Studies have been done on this and there appears to be a strong correlation between a person';s credit rating and a person's risk as a driver. And common sense even tells me this is for the most part true. A person that cares more about their finances and is more responsible with it is likely going to have similar traits with their driving. It's not going to be true for 100% of the cases, but when looking at this on a big picture scale, it should be accurate.

I don't see how your privacy is being violated. You have a choice not to give them your Social Security Number. Same as they have the choice not to insure you.

And I wouldn't know what to call myself. I live somewhat conservitavely with most major issues. But I view the same issues very liberally when it comes to society as a whole. I like having the right to choose and Even though I might choose conservatively, I don't pass judgement or tell others to do the same. Just like it is my choice to do so, others should have the same choice to do otherwise. As long as everyone accepts responsibility for their actions as well. Did that answer your question?

[Qdemption]

Yeah, that about did it.

I read your post on insurance fraud. I didn't know I was dealing with a pro, I took a jab, you followed with an uppercut.

My jaw is a little sore, I'll just ice it down though, it'll be fine.

So uhh, anyone else hungry?? Who's up for some flapjacks??