Everyone is looking to save money these days with a financial recession and sluggish economy still in sight. Besides taking on another full time job, you can cut corners with a few simple phone calls while shopping around for your auto insurance. Imagine being rewarded financially by doing what you already do: drive safely. A good driver discount, sometimes referred to as a “safe” driver discount is usually offered by insurance companies.

Defining a “good driver” is not clear-cut. Each insurance company has a slightly different definition for what that may be. Even if you have a perfect driving record, you may not be a shoe-in for such a discount. On the flip side if your driving record is slightly tarnished, you may still qualify for a good driver discount; as much as 25% off your premiums.

There are a multitude of factors that insurance underwriters consider when offering a discount to drivers. Certainly, your driving record will come under some scrutiny; factors such as time elapsed since last speeding violation or history of DUI will also be examined. However, other factors may be considered including marital status, employment, age, even your place of residence. The insurance industry refers to “good drivers” as “Preferred risk” or sometimes “Preferred Plus” meaning, lower rates for you. The general picture of a Preferred risk person is one who has had a clean driving record for the past several years. Someone in their mid-20′s with a clean driving record indicates some history which insurance companies like. A solid 10-year accident and ticket free history is a positive sign for future caution and safety. A married person is more likely to be a lower insurance risk for companies. The place of residence matters with premium rates in general. Some areas of the country are just higher accident risks. Your credit history may be examined. A cautious financially responsible person indicates a cautious responsible driver; at least in the eyes of the underwriter. These are general guidelines. There is no “good driver insurance” bible, so seeking out the best rate is still a matter of looking into multiple insurer’s options.

Some states, California and Massachusettes to name a few, have laws on their books protecting good drivers from denial of this benefit for law-abiding drivers who match the criteria set forth by the state.

In California for example, a licensed driver needs to meet the following criteria:
1) Licensed to drive a motor vehicle for the past 3 years
2) Have not had more than one violation point on their driving record
3) Have not been at fault in an accident resulting in death or injury
4) Have not had a DUI in the last 7 years

As a general rule, if you meet the above criteria, it would be worth investigating a “good driver” rate if your are not currently being offered one, even if you don’t live in California.

Sometime you may have a blemish on your history that wasn’t your fault. Acts of nature that result in loss of vehicular control might cause damage for which you are responsible, but will it also cause you to lose a “good driver discount”? Discuss with the insurer whether or not they offer a “no-fault” accident clause. Many do which is good news for those safe drivers with a slightly tarnished history.

Driving safely makes sense all around. Being rewarded with further discounts for your good driving is something to be easily taken advantage of. Shop around. Find your best rate. And if you feel you qualify, ask about the “good driver” discount.

Did you know that there are many ways you can get low cost auto insurance with little or no effort at all? This article will go over the ways that you may be able to save on your monthly auto insurance bill without much effort.

Obeying the traffic laws and rules of the road is a must if you want to get low auto insurance rates. In fact, the safer you are on the road, the lower your rates will go. As you could see you can get rewarded for doing what you are supposed to be doing. You do not have to go out of your way in order to get a great rate on insurance. Simply maintain a good driving record and prevent getting pulled over and you will be able to save up to hundreds of dollars a month on car insurance.

You can also save money simply by doing some research. This research can take a few minutes of your time, but it can end up getting you low cost auto insurance. Simple research your current company to see if there are any discounts out there that aren’t already applied to your policy. Some discounts may include the good student discount, mature driver discount, and the multi-car discount. All car insurance companies differ when it comes to the types of discounts they offer. If your auto insurance company doesn’t offer the discounts you qualify for you should further your research to find the companies that do. By shopping around you will be able to find the same amount of coverage for a lower price due to the discounts you qualify for. A little bit of research could go a long way when it comes to saving on car insurance.

Finally, you can save on the cost of auto insurance by knowing the amount you are going to pay before you pay it. You should always keep the cost of car insurance in the back of your mind when you are going to purchase a new vehicle. Getting a quote for the vehicles you have in mind will give you a rough idea of how much it is going to cost you to insure it. This will help you choose the car that will cost less to insure and ultimately help you save and get low cost auto insurance.

What is it?

A car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) is the automotive equivalent of human “DNA”.

It sets the vehicle apart from the millions of other vehicles out there. In recent times it has been reflected in 17 digit characters. It displays a car’s uniqueness and heritage and provides a form of “factory to scrap yard” identification. It can be used to track recalls, registrations, warranty claims, thefts and insurance coverage. Each character or digit has a particular purpose.

History of the VIN

Detroit automobile manufacturers began stamping and casting identifying numbers on cars and their parts in the mid 1950′s. The primary purpose of this vehicle identification number (VIN) was to give an accurate description of the vehicle when mass production numbers were starting to scale in very significant numbers. The early VINs came in a range of variations depending on the individual manufacturer at that time.

In the early 1980′s the U.S. National highway Traffic Safety Administration (USDOT) required that all road vehicles must contain a 17 character VIN. This established the standard fixed VIN system which major vehicle manufacturers use currently. The result was a unique “DNA” style number for each individual vehicle rolled off the assembly line.

The Vehicle Identification Number was originally described in ISO Standard 3779 in February 1977 and last revised in 1983. The ISO-VIN was designed to identify motor vehicles, trailers, motorcycles and mopeds and consists of several parts described below.

How to read a VIN

1st to 3rd Character – World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI)

Note than not all the codes have 3 positions. In the case of two position codes, the blank code is not a blank, but usually represents part of the body style or division. If the third position is a “9″, it means that the manufacturer will produce less than 500 units per year.  Here is a  list of some of the more common VIN prefixes.

4th to 8th characters – VDS – Vehicle Descriptor Section. These 5 characters occupy positions 4 through 8 of the VIN and may be used by the manufacturer to identify attributes of the vehicle. Identifies vehicle features such as body style, engine type, model, series, etc.

9th Character – The check digit “character or digit 9″ in the sequence of a vehicle identification number (VIN) built beginning with model year 1981 (when the 17 character digit format was established) can best be described as identifying the VIN accuracy.

A check digit shall be part of each vin (since 1981) and shall appear in position nine (9) of the VIN on the vehicle and on any transfer documents containing the vin prepared by the manufacturer to be given to the first owner for purposes other than resale. Thus, the vins of any two vehicles manufactured within a 30 year period shall not be identical. The check digit means a single number or letter “x” used to verify the accuracy of the transcription of the vehicle identification number.

After all other characters in the VIN have been determined by the manufacturer the check digit is calculated by carrying out a mathematical computation specified. This is based on vin position, sample vin, assigned value code, weight factor and multiply assigned value times weight factors. The values are added and the total is divided by 11. The remainder is the check digit number.

The correct numeric remainder – zero through nine (0-9) will appear. However, if the remainder is 10 the letter “X” is used to designate the check digit value/number.

10th character – Identifies the model year. For example:

• 1988 – (J)
• 1989 – (K)
• 1990 – (L)
• 1991 – (M)
• 1992 – (N)
• 1993 – (P)
• 1994 – (R)
• 1995 – (S)
• 1996 – (T)
• 1997 – (V)
• 1998 – (W)
• 1999 – (X)
• 2000 – (Y)
• 2001 – (1)
• 2002 – (2)
• 2003 – (3)

11th character – Identifies the assembly plant for the vehicle.

12th to 17th characters – VIS – Vehicle Identifier Section. The last 8 characters of the VIN are used for the identification a of specific vehicle. The last four characters shall always be numeric. Identifies the sequence of the vehicle for production as it rolled off the manufacturers assembly line.