Have you heard the saying “Honesty is the best policy?” The next time that you are shopping for insurance, consider a little known fact: The more accurate the information that you provide during the auto insurance, home insurance, renters insurance, commercial insurance and/or SR22 quoting process, the better your rate will be. It is imperative that the information you provide is true and as accurate as possible, whether it is good or bad as it will be scrubbed through multiple databases. If you omit information, such as drivers or provide information that is substantially inaccurate (tickets, accidents, household members), the rate that you are quoted is more than the rate you would have paid had your information been initially correct. In other words, if you force the insurance company to uncover information or correct your information, you may pay more.
For a myriad of reasons, customers will sometimes not disclose the names of all drivers in their household. Insurance companies have a number of ways of verifying who the potential drivers are. MVR reports reveal who has a license with that particular address as well as traffic convictions. There are also a number of other databases that provide household information. Insurance databases will also reveal who has had a claim, whether they were at fault or not. Different companies will weigh this information differently but the important point is that it is hard to cover up potential drivers, tickets or accidents. Be honest about it to get the cheapest auto insurance rate as eventually, it will come to the surface.
Insurance companies will also verify a person’s place of residence. If you have lived at a location for less than twelve months, most companies will ask for proof of your residence. This might be a lease, information from the county assessor or recorder, bills with the new address, a lease or renter/homeowner policy dec page. Different areas have different risk characteristics whether it is more or less accidents, more or less vandalisms or vehicle thefts etc…….Rates are determined accordingly.
Several companies will ask how long a vehicle has been owned and how many miles are driven annually. This information is collected annually, when you take your vehicle in for the emissions test. The information is available to the insurance companies and many use it as a component of establishing your rate. Exact mileage is not necessary but if there is a large difference between what the customer says and the mileage information collected by the state, your rate might be higher. Insurance companies also expect you to know who you are insured with, how long you have been insured with that particular company and what the expiration date of your current policy is. Guessing wrong, may result in you paying more.
You should also avoid trying a number of different scenarios in order to see which results in the cheapest auto insurance rate. More specifically, when quoting an auto insurance policy, if you are adding drivers and then removing them or changing addresses or vehicles, to see which gives you the best auto insurance rate, triggers in the quoting systems may be activated resulting in a higher rate.
Even more important than getting the cheapest auto insurance rate, is that the insurance company is there for you when you need to protect your assets. Of course, this is probably going to occur when you have a claim. Keep in mind that when you sign the auto insurance application, among other things, you are indicating that the information on the contract is accurate, including full disclosure of all drivers, full disclosure of all non-drivers, full disclosure of all claims, disclosure of the garaging address of the vehicles and any other material information contained therein. If it is found that the information is inaccurate, that may constitute misrepresentation which invalidates the contract. This might mean that if you have a claim, the insurance company will not process the claim. Even worse, they might cancel the policy back to the inception date. This would of course, among other things, create problems with the department of motor vehicles for not having a valid insurance policy in force.
In summation, provide accurate information, from the beginning, to ensure that you are getting the best auto insurance rate possible and so that the insurance company is there when you need them. The insurance companies will run all your information through multiple databases which they will use to validate your information and evaluate risk. If they correct or dispute the provided information, they may consider that in their risk model which could translate to a higher rate, in the end.
Stellar Insurance has been helping people all over the Las Vegas Valley get the best coverage for years, including areas such as Henderson, North Las Vegas, Summerlin, and Boulder City. If you’re looking for the right insurance coverage in Las Vegas (including areas around the 89104, 89101, and 89107 zip codes), call Stellar Insurance at 702-315-4567. We’ll help you avoid the potential surcharges of incorrect information and save you money.
