How Healthcare Professionals Can Save on Auto Insurance

There are a few well-known ways to save money on auto insurance, such as lowering unnecessary deductibles and being careful to keep a clean driving record. But there are some lesser-known ways to save money on auto insurance, such as being a member of a certain group or profession. 

For example, money can be saved on car insurance for nurses thanks to affinity programs and discounts provided by their insurance company.

Other career tracks that can receive car insurance discounts include educators, firefighters, other first responders, scientists, engineers, farmers, and more. 

Let's focus on health care professionals and the ways they can save money on insurance.

How do affinity discounts work?

An affinity discount refers to when members of a partnering organization receive a discount from an insurance company. 

Not every car insurance company will offer discounts to nurses or other health care professionals. Some states such as California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Michigan can't lower rates based on a driver's occupation. 

However, many of the largest insurance companies do provide health care professionals with these discounts. Here are some of the most popular insurance companies and the discounts they can offer to nurses:

• GEICO: Almost two dozen medical-related professional groups are partnered with GEICO, including the Association of Women's Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

• Liberty Mutual: Members of the American Association of Registered Nurses can receive discounts through Liberty Mutual.

• Farmers: While Farmers does not have an accessible list of organizations they partner with, nurses are just one of the types of workers who can get a discount through them.

• Nationwide: Members of the American Nurses Association, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, and other professional groups can receive discounts.

• Travelers: Like Farmers, Travelers does not have a list online of the organizations they are partnered with, but they can still offer discounts.

The savings based on your occupation alone will be pretty minor, but that doesn't mean there aren't still possible savings to be had.

The amount of money nurses save with these discounts can vary depending on location and the company. However, you can pair up the affinity discounts with other discounts you qualify for to save even more.

Leverage Education-Related Discounts

In most cases, a health care professional went through an extensive amount of education to get into that position. Insurance companies view those with higher education as less risky drivers, therefore leading to lower rates. 

Some view this kind of discount as discriminatory, which is why the states of California, Hawaii, Georgia, and Massachusetts don't use profession and education to determine a customer's auto insurance rates. 

However, the difference in insurance costs between education levels is practically unnoticeable depending on the insurance provider.

Other Profession-Related Discounts

In general, insurance companies view health care professionals as more reliable drivers. Doctors typically pay a smaller percentage of their annual income for car insurance since they have relatively high salaries. 

In most cases, nurses receive greater insurance discounts than doctors. There are a few reasons for this. 

1. The nursing profession is dominated by women, despite a rising number of male nurses in recent decades. 

2. In most cases, nurses aren't speeding to emergencies, deeming them as lower-risk drivers. Therefore, their premiums tend to be lower.

Generally, women pay less for insurance than men because insurance companies find them less likely to get in a car accident.

Student Discounts for Medical and Nursing Students

Medical and nursing students who are not yet quite in the field can also qualify for insurance discounts. 

Companies don't offer discounts exclusively for medical students, but they do offer them for college students in general. Most insurance companies provide discounts for students with a high-grade point average (typically 3.0 or higher).

The full list of criteria students should meet to qualify for auto insurance discounts are:

• Being a full-time student

• Being under the age of 25

• Having sufficient grades (A or B average or being on the dean's list)

Students in college who are still financially dependent on their parents can also qualify for car insurance discounts. When in doubt, ask your insurance agent what savings you qualify for or consult with your parents if you're still on their plan. 

How Your Commute Can Affect Your Insurance Rates

It makes sense that the frequency in which you drive impacts how much your insurance costs. Nowadays, there are a few ways you can easily track your mileage and driving habits. Telematics is one such way.

Telematics-powered auto insurance is a kind of policy in which insurance companies use in-car tracking devices to monitor your driving habits and tendencies. They track a vehicle's speed, mileage, total driving time, and other factors to determine the policyholder's premiums. 

These in-car tracking devices usually come in the form of a phone app that you download from your insurance provider's website. This mobile app also allows users to easily access the real-time data that is relevant to their insurance rate.

Drivers with a higher commute time may not benefit from this kind of policy, as well as drivers who frequently drive at night. In most cases, telematics is beneficial to anyone with a relatively short commute time. 

Other Ways to Get Insurance Discounts

As previously mentioned, you can pair profession-related discounts with other discounts to save even more money. Regardless of profession, age, location, driving record, and any other discount option, shopping around is the best way to find the most affordable insurance plan for your needs.

One of the biggest factors for an auto insurance policy is the customer's driving record. A clean driving record will have much lower rates than someone with driving offenses. 

Even one at-fault car accident can increase a policy by 20% to 49%. Regardless of your profession, it's best to drive as safely and responsibly as possible.

Maintaining a high credit score is another way to receive auto insurance discounts. Car insurance companies view customers with a high credit score as more responsible than someone with a lower credit score.

Lastly, bundling auto insurance with home insurance can provide you with insurance discounts. You can also save money by insuring multiple cars under the same policy.

Luke Williams writes and researches for the auto insurance comparison site, AutoInsurance.org. His passions include best practices for insurance and helping health care professionals save on premiums.