policy companies need to know how you use your car so they can calculate your level of risk and price your policy accordingly. When it comes to vehicle habit, they ’ ll want to know three major things :

  • Do you drive the car for personal or business purposes?
  • If it’s a personal car, do you use it to commute to and from work or school?
  • On an annual basis, how many miles do you drive the car?

These vehicle function factors will impact the type of policy you need to buy and how it gets priced by your indemnity caller. different companies weight these elements slightly differently, so it ’ s possible that your answers to the questions above will help determine which caller is best for you .

Commercial vs. Personal Use

It ’ s normally pretty easy to figure out whether a fomite should be covered under a commercial car policy preferably than a personal policy. Any of these factors would be a good indicator :

  • If the vehicle is owned by and registered to a business (regardless of whether the business’ name is painted on the side).
  • If the vehicle is driven exclusively by employees of a business.
  • If the vehicle is frequently used to carry equipment, tools, or products for a business.
  • If the vehicle is the business (some examples would be a taxi, courier or delivery service) or is integral to performing a service the business provides.
  • If the vehicle is equipped with commercial add-ons such as cranes, lift-gates, winches, snow plows, and so on.

If any of these apply to the vehicle use in question, you probably need to get it covered under a commercial car policy.

Business-y Personal Use

sometimes the tune between personal and commercial is not then clear. If you, as part of your professional exercise, take clients with you to appointments and therefore on, you can probably do indeed under a personal policy. This assumes that the drive is not the work—that is, you ’ re not a taxi service or driving for a ride-sharing company like Uber or Lyft. If you ’ re an lawyer or an accountant and you take your customer with you to a meet, your primary business is lawyering or accounting and not transporting people from place to place. The same goes for people whose business requires them to be several places during the day. A very estate agentive role or family health manage worker can safely drive from appointment to appointment under a personal policy. The change of location is integral to the work, but since no clients or goods are being transported, this is considered personal clientele habit and not commercial use. There ’ randomness besides an exception for those with a part-time or side occupation that may require you to transport products on an episodic basis. If you operate a life style business selling relatively small quantities of product, you ’ re credibly o doing so without a commercial policy. But if that occupation becomes more of a full-time gig, you ’ ll need to reconsider. Different insurance companies have different policies, so the best thing is to talk to your independent agent to verify that you ’ ve got the correct coverage in place. indemnity companies are well within their right to deny a claim for an accident involving person who was conducting commercial business under a personal car policy. If you ’ ra not indisputable, take sure. The peace of mind is worth it.

Pleasure Use vs. Commuting

There ’ s a simple way to determine whether a vehicle is used for commuting or not. Ask yourself : Do I climb into the cable car most mornings and drive somewhere, park it there for the majority of the day, and then drive it home in the even ? If the answer is yes, you ’ ve got a commutation car. On the other hand, if you use the car on a daily basis but cipher drives it to and from solve or school, it would be considered a “ pleasure use ” fomite. This pronounce besides applies to a vehicle that is driven only occasionally. Some policy companies use mileage to determine whether a car is a joy vehicle or not. For example, if you drive fewer than 7,500 miles per year ( which works out to about 20 miles per day ), your insurance company might classify your vehicle for pleasure use and guarantee it at a lower rate. The reasons behind this are bare. commuter vehicles are driven more miles, which means they ’ ra subjected to greater risk than pleasure vehicles. They besides tend to be on the road during dawn and even rush hours, when the risk of accidents is greatest .

Mileage

mileage is a final fomite use divisor that influences the price of your car insurance coverage. According to the Federal Highway Administration ( an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation ), the modal act of miles driven per driver in the United States is 13,476. obviously, your own mileage will be determined by where you live and where you work, whether you have children, and the distances you drive to visit friends and family.

Average Annual Miles per Driver by Age Group
Age Male Female Total
16-19 8,206 6,873 7,624
20-34 17,976 12,004 15,098
35-54 18,858 11,464 15,291
55-64 15,859 7,780 11,972
65+ 10,304 4,785 7,646
Average 16,550 10,142 13,476

insurance companies use different mileage breakpoints in determining price. Some set their discount rate floor deoxyadenosine monophosphate high as 15,000 miles, while others give you a pause if you drive 8,000 miles or fewer. Some will take your word for it, while others want to check out your odometer reading. In most places, mileage is a relatively minor component of the indemnity price formula. In California, though, express regulations mandate that mileage be the second most significant factor in car policy price, after a customer ’ s drive phonograph record. The theory is that, by mandating that insurers basically charge customers by the sea mile, the state can disincentivize driving and improve the environment. It remains to be seen whether the regulation will consequence its mean goal .

Shopping Around for Perks

As with most things in the policy occupation, you ’ ll see some pretty bad differences in how much stress different insurance companies place on the factors of business use, commutation, pleasure consumption, and mileage. Your autonomous agent can help you identify the correct insurance company based on your own especial drive patterns .

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