When it comes to the price you pay for your auto insurance, it is important to know that insurance companies factor in a lot of different details before offering you a quote. There are actually dozens of factors that can affect the amount you pay, but there are several top factors that control most of the price you pay. Here are the main factors that will affect your rates.

Your basic demographics

A large percentage of your insurance costs are based on your basic demographics. Basic demographics include things like your age, gender, marital status, location of your home, and your occupation. Each of these factors will affect the rates you pay. This is because insurance costs are based on risks, and insurance companies use statistics to determine risks for each of these things. Because of this one factor, a young male driver will pay more for insurance than an older male driver. Additionally, a person who lives in an area with high crime rates will pay more than a person who lives in an area that is very safe.

Your driving record for the past few years

The second main factor that will affect your rates is your driving record, including your record from the past few years. If you have no accidents on your report and no tickets, you will automatically pay less than a person would if he or she had accidents and tickets on record.

The car you are insuring

The final factor that plays a huge role in insurance costs is the type of car you are insuring. A car that is valuable is likely to need more insurance coverage and will therefore have a higher rate than a car that is very old and is worth very little. Safety ratings of vehicles also affect the rates you pay. Cars with excellent safety ratings will often qualify for discounts, while cars with poor safety ratings will not. The type of coverage you add to your policy will also affect the rates. For example, it will cost more to insure a car with collision coverage than liability only.

There are many other factors that could affect your rates, but there are also factors that should not affect your rates, such as your religion or race. To learn more about how insurance companies calculate quotes and what you can do to improve the cost of insuring yourself, talk to an auto insurance agent today.