By Joe Welusz

Why does your zip code impact your auto insurance rate? Getting a clear understanding of its effect will help you make better decisions when buying a new home: You’ll appreciate that saving a few hundred on a home might actually cost you thousands in auto insurance premium over the course of a few years.

Here are a few examples.

Where you live will largely determine your mileage in a number of ways. If you live far from the places you frequent you will accumulate a higher mileage. Take your job for example: If your home is 10 miles from your job and you drive there five days a week, you’ll accumulate twice as much mileage as your neighbor whose office is just 5 miles away.

The area you live in will determine whether you’ll have access to standard public transit. Using public transit will definitely help you cut down your rate.

Does the area you are moving too have a high crime rate? This will determine your automobile insurance rates to a high extent. Your area’s crime rate will affect the risk of theft and vandalism to you vehicles.

If you are thinking of moving to new home in a different area, take some time out to do these calculate. The small amount of money you save on your new house in one neighborhood might be totally canceled out by the rate hike you incurred on your new auto insurance premium.

Furthermore, take some time to do thorough comparison shopping to locate insurers who offer better rates to your zip code. Different insurance company’s rates will vary widely.

Remember when you’re shopping for a new place to live; get multiple auto insurance quotes to compare auto insurance for the different areas you are interested in. If your new area adds $200 to your annual auto insurance costs, you’ll pay an extra $4,000 over the course of 20 years!

 




By: Joseph Welusz