OAI Discusses Whether Car Color Affects Insurance Costs

The methods that car insurance companies use to price their products can seem like a hazy mystery to many consumers, and for good reason. Most use complicated formulas that include pieces of information the average motorist would think have nothing to do with their risk of getting into an accident, and few consumers take the time to check state regulation to find out what sort of information is allowed in rating formulas.

Although coverage providers use a large number of rating factors to determine how much is car insurance going to cost for an individual, a new OnlineAutoInsurance.com FAQ explains that car color is not one of those rating factors.

Insurers do look at engine size, safety and anti-theft features, and crash and repair data in the risk-evaluation process, but color doesn't enter into it. So consumers can opt for that sporty-looking yellow or red car without worrying about being slapped with higher insurance costs, as long as the model has a decent crash and loss history.

To get a general idea of which cars may be slightly more or less to insure, consumers can use the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's "2011 Relative Collision Insurance Cost Information Booklet," a PDF of which can be found at http://1.usa.gov/ewE4aU

The report ranks an extensive list of autos by their relative average loss payments. Scores of 100 are equal to the average for all cars in the report, so cars with lower scores have better than average loss histories.

These data can give consumers a general idea of how much of a risk an auto may pose to an insurer, but it is just a general idea. That's because, when it comes down to it, most coverage providers use their internal loss data to adjust premiums for make and model.

To learn more about the factors that influence the price of a policy, readers can go to http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/quotes/how-much-car-insurance-costs.htm where visitors will have access to informative resource pages and a quote-comparison generator that can help shoppers find the lowest rates for coverage.

To read the full FAQ, visitors can follow the "Questions" link located at the top of any page on the site.