How Online Car Insurance Providers Validate Driver Information
Many online car insurance companies advertise that they are able to provide accurate auto insurance policy quotes quickly and efficiently. This is done by asking the online customer to provide their driver information to be shared with various online car insurance companies. These details often include the driver’s name, birth date, number of accidents or tickets the driver has had over the past few years, the make, model and year of the vehicle as well as the driver’s home address or place the vehicle will be stored when not being driven. However, before a quote can be finalized and make the transition to an actual policy that is ready for purchase, the insurance provider will require the customer to provide some form of official identification in order to verify the potential insured’s driver information.
The main form of personal information used to verify driver information is the driver’s license number of the customer. Driver’s license numbers are required by all car insurance companies and are used to verify identification as well as research the insured’s driving record. A driving record will provide an online car insurance company the ability to view a comprehensive list of entries detailing any traffic tickets that the driver has received. In addition, the insurance company will be able to tell whether or not the driver has ever been involved in a traffic accident as well as the severity and liability of any accident that the potential insured has been a part of. If a driver is found to have numerous traffic violations, citations, and possibly even accidents, the insurance company is less likely to offer a favorable policy.
Another common way online car insurance companies research and verify driver information for a potential client is by getting the social security number of the customer. Insurance providers use the customer’s social security number to not only verify the person’s identification, but also to check the potential insured’s credit scores. The belief held by insurance providers that use credit scores to assess the risk of a potential client is that people who have lower credit scores often have a greater likelihood of filing an insurance claim. While not all insurance companies rely on verifying a person’s credit history to assess risk, those that do typically offer considerably lower rates for customers with a good credit rating.
Being able to quickly obtain quotes from online car insurance companies ultimately saves consumers a great deal of time and money. However, the effectiveness of this process is largely dependent upon the individual online customer providing a comprehensive and accurate profile of his or her driving history.
