One of the major costs of car ownership is insurance. According to Bankrate, the average annual cost for full coverage car insurance is $2,348, while minimum coverage costs around $639 per year.
This means that, if you want your car to be fully covered by your insurance, you’re going to end up paying an average of around $196 per month.
To make matters worse, some states have significantly higher premiums than others. The same Bankrate article notes that full coverage in Florida costs an average of $3,450 per year, while that number in New York is an incredible $3,757.
Seeing these high prices, it’s understandable that one may want to find ways to reduce their insurance spending. While there are a lot of methods that people claim will reduce their insurance rates, some of these are more legitimate than others. Now, a user on TikTok has sparked discussion after claiming to dispel some of the “myths” about what does and doesn’t increase your insurance price.
What affects your insurance rate?
In a video with over 30,000 views, TikTok user Cara (@friendlyneighborhooduw) presents a list of “things insurance companies don’t care about.”
“Number one, the color of your car. It does not matter,” she starts. “It’s not going to affect what you pay or whether you’re eligible or not with an insurance company. Don’t care.”
This is true. As noted by Compare.com, “insurers pay little attention to your car’s color. Some unique or custom paint jobs can play a small role in your overall premiums, but those situations are relatively rare.”
Next, Cara says that one’s income level and employment status do not affect your insurance rate.
“Can you pay your bill? Awesome. That’s all they care about,” she says. “Everything else? Do not care.”
This is true, but it doesn’t tell the full story. Insurers don’t directly factor in your income when determining your car insurance rate, explains Experian, but your socioeconomic status can still influence what you pay.
For example, insurance companies often use your ZIP code as part of their rate calculations. If you live in an urban area with higher rates of theft, vandalism, or accidents, your premium may be higher.
For “number three,” Cara says that insurers do not care about one’s race, ethnicity, or religion when it comes to insurance premium calculations.
“They don’t care and they can’t care,” she declares. This is true, as using those factors are tantamount to discrimination.
Continuing on, Cara states that, with home insurance, minor changes to your home will not affect your insurance rate. As an example, she says that painting one’s walls will not generally result in a change in premiums.
This is correct; however, there are other alterations one can make to their home that could affect their insurance rates, such as converting a room to a home office and upgrading a bathroom or kitchen.
Finally, Cara says that parking tickets should not impact one’s insurance rate.
“We all have them,” she concludes. “It doesn’t matter. It’s fine. Don’t care.”
“A parking ticket won’t increase your car insurance rates,” agrees Investopedia. However, “unpaid parking tickets hurt your credit score, which could affect your car insurance costs.”
@friendlyneighborhooduw Things Insurance Companies Don’t Care About #insurance #insurancetiktok #insuranceagent #carinsurance #autoinsurance #homeinsurance #dontcare #carsoftiktok #cars ♬ Head Empty – Tsundere Twintails
Does gender affect car insurance rates?
In the comments section, some questioned the metrics used by insurance companies to calculate the cost of premiums.
“Why can they care about gender but not race, religion, etc? men pay far more then women,” wrote a user. This is true, states MarketWatch, though “men pay about $51 more per year or about 4% more than women on average.”
In a TikTok DM exchange with the Daily Dot, Cara noted some of these surprising elements that contribute to one’s premiums.
“I think people were surprised about gender,” she explained. “I made another video previously (about a different topic), and people were surprised to hear that location plays a part too. Not just that it affects your price, but that you need a brand new policy if you move from one state to another. And marital status! That’s another one they were surprised about.”
How to take advantage of varying insurance rates
There are some ways people can use this information to benefit them, Cara said.
“I think they can use it to their advantage,” she says of customers with this knowledge. “For example, if you get married, you can potentially save money by letting your insurance company know. And if you move from one state to another, it’s advantageous to know you need a new policy. Not updating your policy could result in claim denials or policy non renewals.”
To conclude, Cara stated that “it’s important to understand how your policy works so you don’t get blindsided if you have a claim.”
Other commenters shared their gripes with insurance companies—and the things that do affect insurance rates.
“Things insurance companies don’t care about – customers,” added one commenter.
“I don’t understand what your credit score has to do with insurance. but it does make a difference,” offered another.
The Daily Dot reached out to Cara via TikTok DM.
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