5 Signs you Might be a High-Risk Driver

Getting car insurance should be a straightforward process. It should be as simple as finding the right provider, signing a bit of paperwork, and going about the rest of your day assured of coverage that adequately protects your interests. For many people though, signing up for auto insurance is a complicated nightmare. This is because most insurance companies go to great lengths in order to avoid people classified as high-risk drivers. There are countless drivers who struggle to find even the most basic coverage purely because of getting stuck with this unfortunate label. But what exactly is a high-risk driver?

High-Risk Drivers Explained

The term high-risk driver sounds like a stigma that only applies to dangerous drivers, but it actually affects people from all walks of life. Simply defined, high-risk drivers are licensed drivers who have an increased probability of filing an insurance claim on their vehicle. All it takes for someone to become a high-risk driver therefore is to create the impression that they are more likely to file a claim than then the average licensed driver. As you can imagine, this could happen for plenty of reasons beyond a blemished driving record. The five most popular reasons why drivers become high-risk are:

1. Traffic Violations: Any formal Vehicle Code violations on a person’s traffic record immediately designates them as a high-risk driver. Such violations can include DUI convictions, speeding, driving without a license, collisions, hit-and-run incidents and many more.

2. Lack of Experience: Regardless of age, any newly licensed driver is more likely to be classified as high-risk. This is because inexperienced drivers are statistically susceptible to end up in collisions or other undesirable traffic incidents.

3. Becoming a Senior Citizen: Elderly drivers are typically classified as high-risk because of the health complications associated with aging. The older people get, the more deteriorating health interferes with their ability to operate vehicles.

4. Lapses in Coverage: Going without insurance for extended periods of time while you own and drive a vehicle isn’t just dangerous, it’s against the law. Doing this has a significant impact on a driver’s reputation and immediately compels insurance companies to assume that an applicant is high-risk.

5. Driving High-End Cars: People who own expensive or high-performance vehicles are usually considered high-risk because of the potential costs of insuring their cars. Sports cars cost a lot of money either o repair or replace. This makes them challenging to provide coverage for.

If you happen to fall under the category of high-risk drivers, there’s no need to despair. This is because regardless of the circumstances a driver might be in, being high-risk is always temporary. The vast majority of high-risk drivers are perfectly capable of building reliable reputations. All it takes is finding the right insurer, and developing an incident-free driving record over time. For more information on how Adriana’s Insurance Services can help you overcome the hurdles of being a high-risk driver, visit any of our offices or give us a call at 1-800-639-7654 We got you covered!