When I read the question, “Why do red cars cost more to insure than other colored cars?” I went back into my 42 year experience of selling insurance and could not recall any time when an insured was asked the color of their car before giving a quote to them. It’s just one of those myths which got started somewhere and continues to be a talking point around the office water cooler.
I do remember a jovial little elderly lady who bought a fancy sports car convertible upon her retirement. She had been widowed for some time and had been as thrifty as she could be with the intent that when she retired she was going to buy this fancy sports car and tour the United States. We joked for a moment, and when I told her to be careful about getting speeding tickets, her response was, “I hope to get a bunch of them ‘cause that is such a good way to meet some fine young gentlemen.” We had a good laugh and she went on her way.
Even though the specific color doesn’t seem to make a difference on the premium, there are some items which do. For example, the size of the engine, embellishments like leather and wood interior, exotic paint job, or four wheel drive. These items are not normally identified when the agent gives a premium quote because the vehicle identification number (VIN) which the agent asks for includes them. This VIN is specific to each individual vehicle and can act like a fingerprint to the insurance company. They can track what make and model the vehicle is, type of engine, year of vehicle, along with where it was assembled and by whom. Some newer model vehicles can also give you information about color of paint and configuration for key requirements. Since the VIN is unique, insurance companies can also track if the vehicle has been involved in an accident, whether it has ever been reported as stolen, or if it had been damaged due to flooding or damaged by a hurricane or tornado. Along with other repositories for storing vehicle information, the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System is designed to protect consumers from fraud and to keep stolen vehicles from being resold. Consumers can use NMVTIS to access important vehicle history information.
If you are just burning up with curiosity of how insurance premiums are calculated, go to insuranceguidelocal.com for a brief explanation.
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