There’s nothing more infuriating than paying too much for something. Well, actually, there is one thing even more infuriating than that. It’s finding out that you’ve been doing it for years.

If you usually only drive short distances or have low annual mileage on your vehicle, you’ve likely been shelling out more money than you really need to pay for car insurance cover. You’ve been subsidizing the habits of other drivers. You just haven’t been aware of it.

By paying standard insurance premiums, you’ve been treated just like any other nameless customer. The trouble is that your situation makes you different from other customers. You have a much lower risk profile.

You see, most car insurance companies in Australia base their premium pricing on a set of assumptions about drivers. They use composite data to paint a picture of the average driver and the time they spend on the road. They don’t care about your personal daily commute—they simple use estimates to price your coverage based on national averages for commuter mileage.

The average Australian commutes 20 – 25 minutes each day to work, according to a recent Payscale survey. Thus, car insurance cover premiums are based on that risk profile. If your commute is shorter, you have less road time, and thus present a lower risk profile. Unfortunately, you won’t be receiving a corresponding discount from most major Australian insurers anytime soon.

However, there is a way to get the premium price discount you deserve for your lower risk profile. To do it, you simply need to seek out an insurance company that takes the time to differentiate between actual driver behaviour and national averages. You need to find an insurance company that really cares about you as an individual consumer instead of treating you like just another anonymous customer.

To do this, you should look for a company that has a more personalized approach to the insurance quotation process. Most companies don’t ask for more than your name, driver’s license, and accident history. They throw a number out to you as a premium, based on their assumptions, because they just want to get you a quote as quickly as possible, even if its a bad price for you.

However, thanks to modern technologies, a bit of additional inquisitiveness during the quotation process is not a time consuming issue. The technology is there to ask you the quick questions that will paint a true picture of your driving habits. This allows a premium price to be offered that more accurately reflects your risk profile and your needs when it comes to car insurance cover.

As a result, the final premium that you are offered can be much lower than what you are paying at a standardised insurer. You can finally get the price break you deserve. All these years, you’ve not gotten any benefit out of your shorter commute than the pleasure of saved time. Isn’t it about time you also explored the possibility that you could be saving money?