I assume a lot of the good members at Progressive U are young people like me. Specifically young people from the ages of 18-24. I am a twenty year old male driver and I am thoroughly disgusted that I am made to pay higher rates for auto Insurance (that the government requires me to have) for absolutely no other reason other than my age, gender and bizarrely enough marital status. When assigning rates to customers, all insurance companies use statistics to decide how much liability each individual customer is to their company. They call this "risk assessment" and it is widely accepted as a fair way to assign insurance rates. The problem is that they are not selling insurance to statistics (they don't drive cars) but rather individuals. The statistics they use do not say anything about individual customers and their driving habits, attitudes, and abilities. Statistics do not determine the risk that the customer poses in anyway and it is unfair discrimination.
I am assessed as one of the highest risk drivers by insurance companies because I am under age 25, a male, and unmarried. I am not a high risk driver in any sense, in fact I'm just the opposite. I never exceed posted speed limits by five miles an hour or more, I'm courteous and sympathetic toward other drivers, I don't speed up at yellow lights, I don't take risks to impress friends or other drivers, I am not aggressive or angry, I always wear my seat belt (even if I'm just driving across a parking lot) and I don't drink alcohol and have no desire to anytime in the future. I do not dispute whatever statistics the insurance companies use to discriminate against under 25 males and their driving attitudes. I don't care if they are right or wrong because they are absolutely useless in determining one's driving habits and attitudes.
To other young drivers, especially males, I would like to know your driving attitudes and how you feel about this topic. The stereotypes that are associated with under 25 males are grounded in brutal reality and I would urge young males that do fit the stereotypes (there's plenty of them) to get their acts together. Tone it down with the sports obsessions and start gaining some useful knowledge. Stop the fascination with female breasts, stop speeding and acting like fools when you drive, don't drink alcohol at college (females as well) and remember that "the college experience" should be learning - not partying. Don't go to a bar and get hammered on your 21st (or any other day for that matter) just because you can. Think before you act and put your future ahead of stupid childish behaviors that can wreck your life (underage DUI, car crash, etc.). Also, remember that a good driver is a safe, cautious and defensive driver, not those who think they have great driving talents and can therefore engage in risky show-off behavior. Opponents of ending car insurance discrimination can only benefit from those behaviors.
With that said, I'd like to make it clear that I should not be held responsible for foolish behavior made by others just because I am of a certain gender, age. and marital status. Proponents of insurance discrimination say that statistics should continue to be used so that low risk drivers don't have to subsidize high risk drivers and I couldn't agree more with the latter. As a low risk driver, I should not have to subsidize high risk drivers but insurance discrimination will ensure that I'll be paying for high risk drivers for the next few years. High risk idiotic drivers (even married thirty year old women) should pay through the nose for their behavior and low risk drivers should not be responsible for subsidizing them. It's as simple as that.
I was a member of the under 25 male and unmarried group. My insurances carry had a policy even for my group called the good drive rate. If I stay accident free for one year my rate would go down by 50 dollars. If I stay accident free with no speeding tickets or other traffic violations for more then two years I would only have to pay 65 dollars a month. I also completely understand why this companies make yours and my former group pay out the noise and that is because that group does have the most trouble percentage wise. I would recommend that you look for a company that will offer you the good driver reward. Also many insurance companies make those 30 year old women that have lots of driving problems pay more.
"Something given has no value"~Robert Heinlein
"Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richards Almanack, 1749
I am glad to see that you were able to find a car insurance company that actually cared about how you drive and the liability you posed to them rather than just your age and gender. I have been driving over two years (with my license) and needless to say, I have no traffic or parking tickets and no at-fault (or not at fault for that matter) and I am baffled why so many in my "group" cannot drive safely. I knew a kid that bragged about his multiple speeding tickets and risk taking driving. Bad drivers of any sort pose a risk to everyone around them on the road and from what I notice, a lot of them are young stupid punks. I only have one friend my age because he is more like me (interest in intellectual things, responsible, etc.) but prefer to have nothing to do with most of my peers. I socialize with older adults (late twenties to fifties) very well though.
You should call around and see who is the best or will help you more. I will not tell you who I had because they got bought out and I do not know if they still offer the good drive reward any more. I believe that all insurance companies should offer the good driver reward in my opinion I think it would help bring the younger drivers into line and allow them to be reward for doing good. I enjoy reward success. I also would like all teenagers to have to pay for their own insurance and not have their parent do it for them. I feel that would help out a lot too.
"Something given has no value"~Robert Heinlein
"Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richards Almanack, 1749
Your Heinlein quote is from... Starship Troopers? Or Time Enough for Love? I want to say the former, since I've read it more than once, but I just finished both recently, so they're both in my head still. ;-) They are awesome reads. :-)
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Starship Troopers I only put the authors because I dislike how the movie was anti military and the writer of the book was promoting the military. I also enjoyed reading both of those books.
"Something given has no value"~Robert Heinlein
"Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richards Almanack, 1749
My insurance company gives my mom a discount because I have (well--had) good grades. I've had a couple of smudges on my record--an accident that didn't cause any damage to either vehicle, or any of the four persons in the vehicles, and a speeding ticket because I missed the sign that I was driving through a work zone and was going the normal speed for that road. The latter was on a federal base, though, so I'm not sure it affected the points on my license at all. Silly MPs. But both of those were more than two years ago (at least, I think the speeding ticket was more than two years ago... it might've been in 2007). I'm also the primary driver on the cheapest car we have, which gives us a break because our cheapest car is really cheap, instead of our most expensive car. It also depends on where you live, how far you drive in a year... that sort of thing.
As a side note, I got kicked off my mom's health insurance because I'm smart. I breezed through school so that I could go out into the real world, and graduated before I turned 21. Once I turned 21, they yanked the insurance because I wasn't in school full time. The job I got doesn't provide it, and I can't afford it on my own right now. So I'm uninsured. Lovely, eh?
It sucks, but so does life. Find an insurance company that will give you a good deal for your coverage and deal with it til you turn 25.
~C
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When assigning rates to customers, all insurance companies use statistics to decide how much liability each individual customer is to their company. They call this "risk assessment" and it is widely accepted as a fair way to assign insurance rates. The problem is that they are not selling insurance to statistics (they don't drive cars) but rather individuals. The statistics they use do not say anything about individual customers and their driving habits, attitudes, and abilities. Statistics do not determine the risk that the customer poses in anyway and it is unfair discrimination.
I would suggest that if auto insurers spent the time to individually qualify and evaluate the drivers who applied to them for coverage, the resulting cost to the individual driver would be significantly greater than what you are paying.
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Yes It is discrimination our insurance rose from 1800 every 6 month to 3200 every 6 months when we added our son. what do you call that? I seached for liability insurance for a 1990 ford escort liability only and with him only on the policy and they quoted it as 300 a month. I have learned that the reason the auto insurance can get by with the outrageous prices is because its a law to have insurance and they know it so they take advantage of people and use any excuse to raise the rates. I searched several insurance companies and its the same ole thing. Also, they use your credit score against you which should be against the law just because someone filed bankruptsy doesnt mean they are going to crash,speed,hit a pedestrian, or whatever they think i'm going to do just because i went broke! OUTRAGED BECAUSE ITS ALL A MONEY MAKING SCHEME!
Bravo for your comments!
I agree it us unfair to pay for the poor decisions and immature behavior of others. I was a young driver at one time ans felt the very same way as you. When Iturned 25 it was wonderful as I saw my rates drop.
Until then here is a suggestion. Contact your insurance agent and ask them what discounts are available to you. You might be suprised at what is available for the asking.