Every insurance company calculates its rates and premium levels differently: some companies give discounts for electric cars, others for certain occupational groups or customers with multiple policies, still others take more money if the car is parked on the road and not in the garage. The final premium of a car insurance policy is determined by many factors - the competitive environment and the marketing strategy of insurers, as well as the expectation of what damage will be caused by an insured vehicle.

For their assumptions on damage expectations, American motor insurers can draw on statistics from the AAA, among others. Every year, AAA statisticians evaluate the data of almost all motor vehicle insurance companies in the US and calculate the impact of various risk characteristics. To do this, they differentiate the data on insured passenger cars according to, among other things, around 28,000 different vehicle types, over 400 registration districts, and the age and claim-free years of the drivers.

The statistics for motor vehicle liability insurance are based on the insurance benefits paid to injured third parties following traffic accidents. Insurance benefits for damage to one's own car following self-inflicted accidents and for partial coverage damage (including car theft, glass damage, wildlife accidents or damage caused by natural events) are included in the calculations for comprehensive insurance. For the statistics on partial casco insurance, only partial casco damage is considered.

These risk characteristics are distinguished by the GDV:

1. The regional class

The regional classes reflect the claims balances of the more than 400 registration districts. The decisive factor is not where an accident occurred or where other comprehensive damage occurred, but in which of the registration districts the vehicle owner resides. The better the claims record of the district, the lower the classification in the regional class. 2.

2. The type class

The type classes result from the damage and accident records of the total of around 28,000 individual models. Car models with little damage or low repair costs are classified in low type classes, while many claims and high insurance payments lead to high type classes.

3. Annual mileage

The more kilometers a car covers on the road, the greater the risk that the vehicle will be involved in an accident, for example. This is not only in line with intuition, but is also reflected in the claims records of auto insurers. As a rule of thumb, therefore, a person who drives less will drive more cheaply than a frequent driver.

4. The number of accident-free years

Those who drive accident-free benefit from this via the so-called no-claims bonus . With each accident-free year, the classification improves by one class. What's more, anyone who causes a claim does not immediately drop back to the initial value. Depending on the no-claims class achieved, claim-free years continue to be recognized even after an accident. The bottom line is that, as they get older, almost all drivers benefit from their years of driving experience - most of all, of course, those who do not cause accidents.

5. The user group

Deciding not to let everyone get behind the wheel of their car can lower insurance premiums. GDV statistics distinguish between two cases: Either the vehicle owner lets anyone drive his car who has a valid driver's license. Or he restricts the circle of users to himself and a partner, if one exists. Around three quarters of policyholders opt for this option.

6. The age of the user

GDV statistics show that young and older drivers cause more motor vehicle liability and comprehensive insurance claims on average than middle-aged drivers. Therefore, there is the risk characteristic "user age" . The age used by the GDV generally corresponds to the age of the policyholder. Only if the policyholder states in the contract that drivers younger than 25 also use the car, the age of the youngest driver is generally considered the user age.

7. The age of the car at the time of purchase

The fact that a car gets older over time is irrelevant to this risk characteristic. Another question is decisive: Was the car brand new or a still young used car when the current owner bought it? Or was the vehicle already older? GDV statistics show that drivers of cars bought as new or young used cars cause less damage than the average. If vehicles are purchased at a higher age, on the other hand, their drivers cause an above-average amount of damage. Only in the case of collectors' cars, which are sold from the age of 23, does this trend reverse.

8. The vehicle owner

In most cases, the owner of a vehicle also takes out the vehicle insurance. In addition to this normal case, GDV statisticians distinguish two other constellations in the "vehicle owner" risk characteristic: In one, the motor vehicle insurance is taken out for the partner's car, in the other for the car of a third person - in the latter case, there is an above-average number of claims.

9. The tariff group

The GDV statisticians use the risk characteristic "tariff group" to distinguish the claims records of farmers and civil servants and public sector employees from all other motorists. The result: farmers and public employees cause comparatively slightly less damage than the average motorist.

10. The deductible

Insureds can usually agree on a deductible for the comprehensive insurance policies for their cars. Here, too, a simple rule of thumb applies: the higher the deductible, the lower the premium. In motor vehicle liability insurance, there is usually no deductible - the insurer always pays the full amount of the other party's damage.