There are a wide variety of different factors that an insurance company takes into account when insuring any sort of vehicle. The make and model are obviously big factors, as are the standard features. Cars with more advanced safety features often carry with them lower premiums and of course your driving history impacts the equation as well. Though it may sound absurd, another factor that can influence how much you pay for insurance is where you park your car when at home. Knowing this, you want to consider your options before you sign up for that new insurance policy.
Getting the Best Auto Insurance Rates
In reality, most of the factors that affect your auto insurance are well outside of your control. At least in so far as you cannot impact what the base premiums for the car you choose might be. Naturally, you can try to drive safely and shop for a safe car, but even these factors are not entirely within your control. Alternatively, where you decide to park your car is something you can at least partially impact.
Garage, Sidewalk, or Street
When considering auto insurance rates, the gold standard for parking is in your garage. If you happen to own a house with a garage attached, you should definitely utilize that garage to store your car. This protects the vehicle from storm damage or other comprehensive incidents and also puts it at less risk of damage from other cars driving down the road. If you don’t have a garage, it is important that you utilize your driveway instead. Parking in the driveway may not be good as the coverage of a garage, but it does the trick. Furthermore, if you have a car dock of some sort, it can add some mitigation. Finally, the last resort should be street parking, as this has the highest risk and therefore comes with the highest premiums.
Public Parking Situations
Of course, where you park at work, for school, or other situations can also have an impact on your insurance. For instance, if you work in a city where you end up parking on the street for work you could end up having higher premiums as well. Alternatively, if you park in a private lot or garage, your risk may be somewhat mitigated. Remember to consider all of the locations you might go, as this can impact your risk and help keep rates low.
Other Ways to Keep Auto Insurance Down
As mentioned above though, where you park is only a small piece of the puzzle. The biggest way that you can control auto rates is to drive responsibly and work on avoiding any accidents that might come your way. Keep below the speed limit and follow the rules of the road. A traffic violation can make your auto insurance rates jump up significantly, so the last thing you want to do is have one of those on your record. From there, just shop for a car that won’t incur outrageous rates and you should be able to save some extra money for those more important expenses.