There are many things to consider when you change your career path. Maybe there’s more money in another job than the one you’re in right now. Perhaps you don’t feel very valued at your current employer and someone who is pursuing you shows more interest in your skills.
Whatever the main reason is for you wanting to change what you do for a living, there are smaller benefits to career changes you may not be thinking about right away. Getting a car insurance discount is one of the forgotten factors in changing your job.
A car insurance occupation discount is usually applicable for those in a career field with a lower risk of getting into a car accident. We’ll talk about what some of those careers may be and how you can go about getting these discounts once you enter your new career.
#1 – Remote Workers Get Discounts
One of the reasons people are realizing they can get car insurance discounts because of their career changing was due to the influx of remote work during the pandemic. When you don’t leave your house as often, you’re not at risk of getting into an accident or harming others by making mistakes on the road.
This means usage-based insurance has become much more popular as more people are working from home. Whether you’re a contractor or an employee, a writer or a software engineer, if you’re on your couch instead of driving into the office five times weekly, you probably have lower insurance rates.
Usage-based insurance usually requires you to track the miles you drive daily, weekly, or monthly and report it to your insurance agent. Sometimes they’ll track it for you to make sure you’re not lying to get cheaper insurance. Be honest with your agent so you don’t get caught for insurance fraud, which means fines and legal trouble.
Think about asking your boss if you can work from home full-time or even part-time if you qualify for these insurance discounts. Talk about some of the other ways your remote work will benefit the company, like how you’ll be more alert since you don’t have to drive and you’ll be happier since you’ll see your family more often during the day.
#2 – Entrepreneurs Who Drive a Lot Won’t Get Discounts
People automatically assume they’ll get insurance discounts if they switch to a career in entrepreneurship because they’re often at home. This isn’t always the case. Many solo practitioners and remote salespeople have to drive all over the place to make deliveries, check on clients, and chase down new business opportunities.
If you drive for your business, you may be going around even more than you did as an employee. You’ll also need to look into business or commercial auto insurance while driving your personal car for work.
Unlike when you’re just commuting to work, you often won’t get your insurance company to pay for damages that happen to your vehicle if you’re performing your job while driving. If your business becomes large enough, you’ll have to think about insuring a fleet of vehicles with fleet insurance. This will protect all of your drivers under one policy.
If some of these entrepreneurial insurance expenses get too expensive for you, consider taking on a more traditional career again. If you have a lot of education, like a Masters degree or a doctorate, or if you got a bachelor’s degree online, you’ll get even better rates on your insurance.
#3 – Educated People Get Better Insurance Rates
Jobs requiring more education or advanced degrees often present the opportunity for car insurance discounts. Some companies think people who have more education are more calculated, smarter, and make better decisions on the road. This means jobs like doctors, teachers, nurses, computer technicians, and more can get discounts.
If you find you’re in a high-education career but still have expensive insurance, it may be because of some of the other risks in your profession. Emergency room medical professionals are up all night sometimes. This means they’re exhausted when driving too and from their job, and insurance companies will still view you as high risk despite your level of education.
Luckily, educated people often have more of an ability to get different jobs and change careers. Maybe consider teaching medicine at a university as a professor if you want the discounts educators get and you’re tired of working in the hospital.
These discounts for education trickle down to students, too. Always report great grades to your insurance agent so you can get discounts for a high grade point average. Parents love these discounts for their high school-aged students.
#4 – Joining the Service Comes With Insurance Benefits
It’s often easier to change careers when you’re younger because you don’t have as much loyalty to a company. The longer you do something in life the more difficult it is to get out of your comfort zone.
Joining the military is one of the most popular career choices, whether it’s through a career change or your first career. The amount of physical activity required to be in the military is ideal for a young person. You can also get great insurance coverage if you’re in the military.
Companies like USAA specialize in military insurance coverage, with it extending to the family members of people in the service through generations. Other big companies like State Farm and Geico have also made more military coverage available.
#5 – Changing Careers Could Lead to Safer Living
If you get out of a career in construction or building, you’ll often find your life insurance rates go down. The mortality rate of construction workers and other similar workers is not good compared to office workers.
The same principles can apply to auto insurance. It’s clear when you’re behind a desk there’s not much of a risk of dying. If you have to drive your personal vehicle for a job which requires lots of heavy lifting or labor, your rates are typically higher.
It’s important to know insurance discounts are not the main reason to change your career. They’re more of an added benefit you should think about as a tiebreaker if all other variables are the same. Talk to your insurance agent so they know you’ve made a career change and they’ll tell you about the discounts and coverage changes available.
Shawn Laib writes and researches for the insurance comparison site, CarInsuranceComparison.com. He wants to inform people of the discounts they can get on car insurance.
