How do insurance companies assess drivers’ risk?

When you apply for an auto insurance policy, before the insurance company can issue the policy they must try to foresee how much risk you will be worth if the policy is written. This helps them to manage the claims experience they have, determine whether or not to issue your policy and, if they do issue your policy, decide how much to charge you for it. The process during which they assess your risk is called underwriting.

While underwriting your auto insurance policy for coverage, underwriters will take into account various criteria including your previous driving record. They will obtain a motor vehicle report (MVR) to see how many tickets, accidents and other driving incidents you’ve had, what the tickets have been for, and decide how much influence those actions have on your current driving habits. Some of your past behavior—like speeding—will make you a riskier candidate to insure than others. This is because your past deeds and choices imply something about your personality and habits. Someone who has been cited with several speeding tickets in the past is more likely to have an accident and has also shown a propensity to ignore the legal speeding limit. This shows that the driver might be liable to disregard other driving laws and safe driving practices, therefore making him more likely to have an accident resulting in an insurance claim. Read more on underwriting for auto insurance.


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