Do you know a school bursar would be quoted £372 while a so-called window cleaner would be subjected to £4,607 when both of them are insuring same vehicle in same postcode? Yes, your occupation would have a decisive impact on your insurance rate. Make no mistake, it’s not about income but what you do for living or precisely your job title would play a key role in determining the rate of your insurance premium. What many professionals don’t know is that a high risk job would always mean a higher insurance rate.
It’s to note here there are certain careers which are statistically tagged with higher risk of accidents and hence are dubbed as high risk job careers. When you are in a job that is likely to witness crashes and collisions, it would invariably heighten the possibilities of claims for the insurance companies and they share the burden with you with higher premiums. For example, if you are a professional car racer you are more likely to get into accidents given your extremely speedy wheeling compared to a one in a much safer profession, say a teacher. Needless to mention here that insurance companies would view you in a high risk job and hence would always subject you to a higher insurance rate in comparison to that of the teacher.
According to market studies, the insurance companies deem medical professionals as the most high-risk drivers while car dealers are considered to be the least accident-prone drivers. Consequently, doctors are supposed to pay higher insurance rates while the auto dealers face some of the lowest premiums. Studies reveal that 28% GPs make minimum 1 insurance claims in 3 years but on the contrary only a meager 3.95 percent of auto dealers are found to make a claim in three years.
Here is a brief on which jobs are considered as high risk job occupations by insurance companies and hence are faced with higher premium rates.
- Doctors
- Esate Agents
- Lawyers
- Architects
- Salespeople
- Business owners & executives
- Athletes
- Photographers
Now, why such careers are taken as high risk job careers? Well, the logic behind is pretty simple. All the jobs usually involve overtime, higher stress levels and less hours of sleep. Then, most of these professionals generally have to work in chaotic situations that make one more stressed out. Now, all such factors contribute to a restless mind that can eventually drive to higher accident risks during driving. As we all know, greater the risk of accidents, more would be the number of claims for the insurance companies which the latter materialize with increased insurance rates.
Besides, most of such jobs would require the professional to stay on road for a greater period of time and more you stay on road, greater would be the likelihood of on-road mishaps for you.
Again there are some occupations that are considered as low risk jobs by the insurance companies as they are believed to be in lesser number of crashes and collisions compared to the high risk job careers. It’s little wonder that insurance companies would be more relaxed with these occupations and hence would extend lower insurance premiums. These jobs include:
- Teachers
- Artists
- Accountants
- Scientists
- Nurses
- Accountants
It’s because such professions are deemed as stable & the professionals her are generally detailed-oriented. A detailed-oriented persona would generally show a calmer and more patient mind and hence would be naturally gentle with the steering. When you are so responsible behind the steering, there will always be lesser risks of accidents and invariably lesser chances of claims.
As you can see, if you are in a so-called high risk job, you can’t avoid higher insurance rates. But still, if you can tweak the job title slightly, you can somehow receive a comparatively lower rate. Now, that certainly doesn’t mean that would lie about the actual job as it would be a fraudulent activity on your part. If the insurance providers find out about the truth while paying the claims, you might have to pay dire consequences. Basically, the word “tweaking” here implies presenting the job title in a certain way that would not place yourself so much in a high risk job category. This is especially applicable in jobs that can have multiple job descriptions.
Here are a few examples on how to achieve lower insurance premiums if you are in a high risk occupation-
Nurse Vs care assistant
If you describe your job as “nurse”, you might have to pay £334 instead of £375 which is common with jobs described as “care assistants”.
Administration Vs civil servant
A job described as “civil servant” would generally get £30+ savings compared to a job described as “administration clerk”.
Studio photographer Vs wedding photographer
If you are into wedding photography, it’s smarter to state your job as just “photographer” or “studio photographer”. Citing your job directly as “wedding photographer” would imply £120 more in insurance premium.
Factory worker Vs machinist
If you quote your job as machinist, you might subjected to a £392. But if you are smart enough to quote it as “factory worker”, you would be quoted a much lower £364.
Newspaper reporter Vs journalist
The job of a journalist is often deemed as a high risk occupation and hence attracts higher insurance rates. But then, if you quote it as “newspaper reporter”, you can save as much as £27 on your insurance premium.
However, added to tweaking your job title, you should also make a comparative study between insurance companies while finalizing your insurance policy. It’s to stress here that the regardless of the job title, the quotes will always vary a little from one provider to another and you have to make the most of it. So, never settle with the first insurance provider you come across. Always get a comparison study on at least 4 potential insurance providers. Besides, you should also keep in mind the reputation of the insurance provider.
