In Spain, the owners of any motor vehicle are required to have insurance, at least civil liability, at all times, in accordance with Royal Decree 1507/2008, of September 12. This type of insurance is popularly known as third-party insurance because it covers material and personal damage that the insured vehicle may cause to third parties, even if it is not used or parked at the time the accident occurs.
Additionally, vehicle owners have various modalities that offer broader coverage than third-party insurance. Comprehensive insurance is the most complete, as it covers damage to the insured vehicle, even in cases of collision or accident without the intervention of third parties. Insurance companies also offer the option of taking out a policy with a deductible where the insured assumes part of the costs in the event of an accident.
When setting the price of the policy, companies take into account different aspects that influence the amount we will ultimately have to pay. The characteristics of the vehicle, that is, the make, model and displacement, as well as the use that is going to be made of it and the usual parking place – parking on the street is not the same as parking in a garage – have a direct impact on the insurance rate.
Likewise, the driver profile plays a fundamental role in risk assessment and price determination. Factors such as age, years of driving experience and accident history are carefully analyzed by insurance companies to calculate an appropriate premium. These elements, together, allow policyholders to fine-tune the policy, ensuring adequate coverage and rates that fairly reflect the level of risk associated with the vehicle and driver.
When it comes to the driver’s performance behind the wheel, companies lack data on whether the driver has been involved in traffic violations or received fines. The accident history assessment focuses on incidents that have resulted in insurance claims, as insurers do not have direct access to detailed information about traffic fines.
The General Directorate of Traffic does not have a database that collects the fine history of each driver. It only manages the notifications that it receives about infractions that lead to the loss of points on the license to deduct the credits that correspond to each driver. Traffic assures that this data related to the points license is not shared with insurance companies.
Insurance companies can access a driver’s accident history, which is provided by Sinco (Automobile Insurance Historical Information System). This is a service that was created to facilitate access to online car insurance history. This tool allows insurers to offer prices to their clients in an “agile, secure and impartial” manner, the platform indicates on its website.
Although the penalties received by a driver are not taken into account when calculating the price of the insurance policy, the accident history does have an important weight. “Whether there have been accidents or not,” Mapfre points out. Furthermore, the number of accident reports filled out by a driver can be decisive for whether or not companies accept the risk of insuring the motorist, confirm the sources consulted, because no entity is interested in insuring a bad driver.
