Tuesday 20th April 2004

Just the Job

Insurance premiums vary wildly according to your occupation

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The price of car insurance - for those of us that bother to insure our cars - is influenced by many factors, not least of which is your occupation.

Insurers place great importance on occupations when they assess risks: the list they work from is an industry standard, and what you do can have a big impact on what you pay. Telling them you’re a TV presenter when you’re actually a Travel Agent could cost you twice as much, and when they find out you’ve lied they’ll probably invalidate your cover anyway.

Insurance intermediary, the Allen and Allen Group has been researching the Association of British Insurers (ABI) occupations list and found some strange anomalies with vicars, traffic wardens and exotic dancers rated as risky as TV Presenters.

Allen and Allen set out to discover what a 21-year old male driving a Ford Focus would have to pay for comprehensive cover. The difference in rates was huge depending on the job he did. Down the bottom of the scale, with a premium of £911.32 were a respectable bunch including Dentists, Nurses and Vicars. At the top, paying £1888.30 was Footballers. Just behind, paying £1839.66 was Exotic Dancers and TV Presenters.

"The difference of nearly 100% based on occupation alone is staggering, and whilst insurers might consider a 21-year old Nuclear Scientist or Judge is a low risk, society might disagree ," comments Giles Ashley, Allen and Allen’s Project Manager.

"It is also interesting to see some of the other occupations the ABI thinks pose similar risks when behind the wheel of a car and the way it penalises them with premiums ," he added.

Here is a sample - the rates for the occupations listed are based on previous claims experience and potential payouts, which probably explains how in this example Gynaecologists, Nuclear Scientists, Dentists and Judges come out as low risks and Footballers come top.

Low Risk: Accountant; Keep Fit Instructor; Office Manager; Barman; Dinner Lady; Fireman; House Husband; Lavatory Attendant; Lorry Driver; Policeman; Royal Marine; Unemployed; Yacht Master; Zoo Keeper.

Medium Risk: Oil Rig Worker; Actor; Horse Breeder; Kissagram; Foreign Ambassador.

High Risk: Exotic Dancer; TV Presenter; Footballer.

"Our Profession Price Check contains an unlikely combination of careers and is only representative of the one risk examined. But it does illustrate the importance of thinking very carefully about how you describe your occupation for insurance purposes, and the importance of tying to be as accurate as possible ," says Giles Ashley.

"You may think, for instance, that a TV presenter would pose a similar risk to a Radio Presenter: the jobs appear similar. Insurers take a different view: the difference in premium is £647 in our example .

"But such a difference should not tempt a motorist to miss-describe their occupation, or to forget to tell their insurer if their job changes. If you lie about your livelihood and have an accident the insurer may well invalidate your cover – and that could prove very expensive ."

[chaos]

In a lot of cases the difference is not due to a perceived difference in risk but more due to the likely difference in personal injury claims that would result from an accident.

Obviously a footballer, and certainly and exotic dancer , is going to have a greater loss of earnings than someone who is unemployed.