Have you any idea what your car insurance company thinks about you? Perhaps you’ve never thought about it, but the assumptions that your car insurance company has made about you and your driving habits affects the price that you pay for car insurance cover. If those assumptions aren’t right, then you are not paying the right price.

Unfortunately, most insurance companies in Australia almost never test the assumptions they’ve made about their customers. Instead, they offer one-size fits all premiums based on these assumptions, not facts. This disadvantages most drivers, as no one is truly the "average driver" used in their models.

To get around this, you need to educate your insurance company on your personal situation and driving habits, so that your premium can be calculated on the right risk factors. However, who has any idea how to do that? It would be much better if your insurance company took the trouble to find out the facts about you from the very beginning.

There are a few car insurance companies who bother to take the time to get to understand their customers. They leverage advanced technology during the quoting process to create a premium based on actual, not assumed, risk factors. After all, the more your insurance company knows about your typical vehicle use and driving behaviours, the more likely it is to offer a more appropriate price for the level of risk they assume.

This kind of assumption-testing quoting process asks a few more questions and thereby assures you of a more accurate insurance quote when compared to one that just asks for your address, age, and accident history. This is especially true if you know you have a unique driving profile. Most insurance models assume a given number of miles driven annually and that the car is in use most days of the week. However, a growing number of Australians simply don’t meet that profile.

Working from home is becoming increasingly more popular. So is commuting by public transport to and from work. Homemakers and those who are retired also don’t meet the average consumer profile. The same goes again for those who are away for work, such as pilots or sailors. Thus, when simply getting quotes for off-the-rack rates for car insurance cover, it is likely that the price these types are offered isn’t reflective of the true risk level being assumed by the insurance company.

You don’t have to settle for that anymore. Rather than tolerate consistently rising annual car insurance prices based on arbitrary premium assessments, you can opt out of the "average driver" program. You may find that you can save a significant sum on your car insurance coverage by taking a more thoughtful approach and moving to a company that makes an effort to offer you the right price for your actual risk factors.