Make insurance less of a grudge purchase by reducing the amount you pay on an insurance quote. Insurance is all about balancing risk between you and the insurer. The less of a risk you are to the insurer, the less you pay on an insurance quote.

Knowing what an insurer uses to calculate your insurance quote can help you reduce your risk.  Although each insurer assigns their own values and formulas to your demographics, they use the same information to calculate your risk profile. When it comes to car and home insurance, the following influence your insurance quote;

Gender

For car insurance, men are considered a higher risk than woman. Their insurance quote is usually more expensive because, statistically, they’re more irresponsible drivers. Men, especially between the ages of 18 and 25, have more accidents than women of the same age. As a result, they’re considered a higher risk.

Age

Historically, younger drivers have more accidents than older drivers. This makes their insurance quote more expensive. Younger drivers are more prone to risky driving, which means all insureds under the age of 25, pay more on insurance. Contact your insurer after you’ve turned 25 to get cheaper premiums.

Value of the insured item

The more expensive the car or home, the more expensive the insurance quote will be. When requesting a home insurance quote, though, do not just cover the value of the home, but the cost to rebuild (which includes rubble removal). This is a more accurate reflection of how much you’ll need, should the home be completely destroyed.

Location

If your home is in a high flooding or other CRESTA (Catastrophe Risk Evaluating and Standardising Target Accumulations) zone, then you’re insurance quote will be more expensive as there is more risk of damage to the home. The same applies to your car. Where you store your car at night influences the price of an insurance quote. If you store it in a locked garage as opposed to in the driveway, your premiums will be cheaper.

The best way to reduce the cost of car and home insurance is to compare prices. The South Africa insurance market is competitive enough for comparisons to yield significant savings. Click here to get multiple insurance companies to quote or contact you.