You may have gotten the occasional inquiry from your insurance company about how much you drive each year. Sometimes the insurance company can get these figures from state departments that regulate auto repair shops, but other times, they just send you a form asking you to check off a "number-or-less" option on a list, such as 7,500 or fewer miles per year and then ask you to list your car odometer's current reading. They base your rates partly on your answer. It may seem strange that they want to know your average mileage per year for your rates, but it's done for a very good reason. 

More Driving, More Risks

The more you drive, the more risks you encounter on the road, and thus the larger the chances you'll have an accident. It's that simple. If the insurance company is going to pay out much of those repair costs after an accident or try to insure you after you've gotten a ticket, they don't want to insure just anyone with rates that leave the company's reimbursement accounts low. If you increase your risk in their eyes, they want you to pay more in premiums to help offset what the insurance company might have to pay out.

Calculate Your Mileage Carefully

So, if you have to drive a lot for work, for example, how do you stop your insurance premiums from spiraling out of control? You can do a number of things, and one of the most important is to calculate your mileage carefully. If you have receipts from your last few oil changes, you can look at the mileage from the latest and from the change done about a year ago; otherwise, calculate driving mileage to and from work as well as any other places you regularly go each week. Many times, people assume their mileage per year is always the same, yet you could have reduced (or increased) what you drive due to a change in how much your kids need to be driven around, for example.

Contact Your Agent if It's Really out of Hand

If you've calculated your mileage per year, bundled insurance policies, gotten a monthly or quarterly payment plan, and done everything else you can think of to reduce your premiums – and you're still paying a lot – call your insurance agent. Let them know that you have to drive that much but that the premiums are too much for you. It could be the agent needs to take another look at your driving record and whatever else your state allows premiums to be based off of; maybe it's been a while since that was updated, and it could result in lower premiums. You also have the option of comparison shopping for a new policy with a different company.

Reach out to a company like Kesner Insurance Agency Inc to learn more.