{"id":426256,"date":"2023-04-24T10:44:46","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T14:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/?p=426256"},"modified":"2023-11-20T11:48:24","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T16:48:24","slug":"covid-vaccine-car-insurance-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/covid-vaccine-car-insurance-rates\/","title":{"rendered":"Could a COVID Vaccine Lower Your Car Insurance Rates?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>Affiliate Disclosure:<\/em><\/strong><em> Automoblog and its partners may earn a commission if you purchase a plan from the car insurance providers outlined here. These commissions come to us at no additional cost to you. Our research team has carefully vetted dozens of car insurance providers. See our <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/about\/privacy-policy\/\"><em>Privacy Policy<\/em><\/a><em> to learn more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Car insurance companies use factors such as drivers\u2019 demographic information, driving history, and more to calculate individual premiums. Statistical correlations between factors like a driver\u2019s age and the likelihood of getting into a collision are used to justify these cost differences.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But a recent study found a high correlation between another personal factor and accident rates: whether or not a driver has received a COVID vaccine. Given how car insurance pricing works, our team was curious about whether or not an insurer could potentially use a person\u2019s vaccine status as a determining factor in their rates.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Strong Correlation Between Vaccine Status and Car Accident Rates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A clinical research study titled \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amjmed.com\/action\/showPdf?pii=S0002-9343%2822%2900822-1\" rel=\"noopener\">COVID Vaccine Hesitancy and Risk of a Traffic Crash<\/a>\u201d published in The American Journal of Medicine in December 2022 examined the vaccine status of people involved in automobile accidents. The results show a strong positive correlation between being unvaccinated and getting into a collision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study included 11,270,763 individuals, with 84% of participants having received a COVID vaccine while 16% had not. Researchers recorded 6,682 traffic accidents among the individuals in the study. The data showed that unvaccinated people accounted for 1,682 of those crashes, or around 25% of them. This is equivalent to a 72% increase in the accident rate for people who did not receive a vaccine, which adjusts down to a 48% increase when controlling for other factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Vaccination Status Correlation Compared to Other Risk Factors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A 72% increase sounds significant on its own, but it\u2019s important to see how it compares to other risk factors. The study included a table of additional risk factors \u2013 some used by insurers and others that are not \u2013 to provide additional context.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"visualizer-front-container visualizer-lazy-render\" id=\"chart_wrapper_visualizer-425837-174252506\"><style type=\"text\/css\" name=\"visualizer-custom-css\" id=\"customcss-visualizer-425837\">.locker,.locker-loader{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%}.locker{z-index:1000;opacity:.8;background-color:#fff;-ms-filter:\"progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(Opacity=80)\";filter:alpha(opacity=80)}.locker-loader{z-index:1001;background:url(https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/visualizer\/images\/ajax-loader.gif) no-repeat center center}.dt-button{display:none!important}.visualizer-front-container.visualizer-lazy-render{content-visibility: auto;}.google-visualization-controls-categoryfilter label.google-visualization-controls-label {vertical-align: middle;}.google-visualization-controls-categoryfilter li.goog-inline-block {margin: 0 0.2em;}.google-visualization-controls-categoryfilter li {padding: 0 0.2em;}.visualizer-front-container .dataTables_scrollHeadInner{margin: 0 auto;}.visualizer-editor-front-container{position:relative;width:auto;margin:5%;background:#fff}.visualizer-editor-front{overflow:hidden;width:100%;height:500px}.visualizer-editor-front-actions{padding-bottom:3px}.visualizer-editor-save,.visualizer-editor-cancel{margin:0 4px;padding:2px 15px}.visualizer-cw-error .visualizer-actions{display:none !important;} <\/style><div id=\"visualizer-425837-174252506\" class=\"visualizer-front  visualizer-front-425837\"><\/div><!-- Not showing structured data for chart 425837 because creator is empty --><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Not having a COVID vaccination ranked as the fourth-highest relative risk among all factors included in the table. Alcohol misuse, depression, and being listed as \u201cmale\u201d on state records are the only factors that have a higher relative risk than not being vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, the study shows that not being vaccinated has a higher relative risk than being a younger driver \u2013 one of the factors with the largest impact on insurance premiums.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">There are Numerous Challenges to Using Vaccine Status as a Factor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While the risk correlation between vaccination status and the likelihood of getting into an accident on the road is strong, there are both ethical and legal reasons why using vaccination status as a determining factor in insurance rates would be difficult.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We spoke to expert Drew Nicholson, Insurance and Risk Manager at <a href=\"https:\/\/irm.ehps.ncsu.edu\/\" rel=\"noopener\">North Carolina State University<\/a>, to get his thoughts on whether one\u2019s vaccination status could be used to calculate a driver\u2019s insurance rates.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Medical Information Isn\u2019t Typically a Factor in Car Insurance Rates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Nicholson said that he doesn\u2019t think that insurance companies will use vaccination status as a factor. One of the main reasons, he said, is that there simply isn\u2019t precedent for car insurers using medical information in their rate calculations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn my opinion, it is highly unlikely an insurance company will use someone\u2019s vaccination status as a factor in determining insurance premiums,\u201d Nicholson said. \u201cAlthough life and health insurance companies use health or medical records to determine premiums, automobile insurance carriers historically do not use medical records in determining premiums.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">There Are Also Practical Obstacles and Legal and Ethical Concerns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Nicholson added that there are several other reasons why vaccination status won\u2019t likely become a factor in drivers\u2019 premiums. On the practical side, current law would require drivers to opt in to sharing their medical records in the first place.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/hipaa\/for-professionals\/privacy\/index.html#:~:text=The%20HIPAA%20Privacy%20Rule%20establishes,care%20providers%20that%20conduct%20certain\" rel=\"noopener\">Health Insurance Portability &amp; Accountability Act (HIPAA)<\/a> protects individual medical records,\u201d said Nicholson. \u201cIn order to share personal medical records with an automobile insurance company, the individual would have to sign a consent form to share the information.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This would create an additional step and more work for insurance companies. It would also create a split between people willing to share their records and those who aren\u2019t \u2013 leaving insurance companies to figure out how to account for the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nicholson said that using vaccination status also presents ethical concerns about what other medical information insurers could potentially use to formulate premiums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf auto insurers began using medical records like vaccination status, this would open up a huge can of worms for insurance companies in regards to other health factors which could lead to increased risk of driving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those ethical issues could also result in legal issues for auto insurers. Dealing with those legal issues could be a costly and time-consuming endeavor, and not one Nicholson believes most companies would want to undertake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis would only cause legal problems an insurance company would not want to embark on for simple auto insurance rates,\u201d said Nicholson.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Risk Correlation Isn\u2019t Everything When It Comes to Insurance Rates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The high degree of correlation between one\u2019s vaccination status and the likelihood of getting into an accident is indeed noteworthy. But Nicholson pointed out that there are many factors correlated with a higher risk of accident that insurers also don\u2019t consider in their premiums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am sure that smoking cigarettes has a similar correlation,\u201d he said. \u201cAlong the same thought process as the research study argues [around] not getting the COVID vaccination, cigarette smokers would be classified as someone willing to take more risk therefore a high risk [for insurers].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even conditions that were included in the risk comparison portion of the study that show an increased risk of accident are not among determining factors in the rates insurers set for policyholders. Indeed, there are likely countless variables that can be correlated with a higher accident risk that insurance companies don\u2019t and likely won\u2019t account for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">There Are Also Ethical Concerns for Rate Factors Insurers Currently Use<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There are some factors that car insurance companies do currently consider that may raise ethical issues. Credit scores are one example of a controversial factor. State governments in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Michigan have outlawed the use of a person\u2019s credit score in their car insurance premiums. But in every other state, credit scores can have a major impact on a person\u2019s rates.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to cost data sourced from Quadrant Information services, drivers with poor credit in the U.S. pay nearly 81% more than drivers with good credit with all other factors the same. Nicholson says that there is risk assessment logic to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cStudies show that drivers with poor credit file more auto insurance claims than drivers with better credit,\u201d he said. \u201cTherefore, the higher your credit score, the lower your auto insurance premium.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the risk valuation Nicholson describes does make logical sense, using credit scores as a factor can have an enormous impact on a driver\u2019s financial situation. People with lower credit scores already pay more for auto loans and other financial products, and a dramatic increase in insurance rates only makes things harder for people who are more likely to be in a difficult financial position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The use of ZIP codes as a factor presents similar problems. Differences in crime rates, populations, accident rates, and more between ZIP codes are logical factors in insurance premiums. However, those factors also align with significant racial differences between ZIP codes, meaning a person\u2019s race likely also correlates with differences in how much they pay for car insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Vaccine Status Won\u2019t Likely Affect Your Rates, But It\u2019s Worth Considering What Does<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The practical, legal, and ethical challenges of using a person\u2019s vaccine status as a factor in their insurance rates mean that it probably won\u2019t be part of the calculation anytime soon. But given the high degree of correlation compared to other factors that do affect insurance premiums, it is perhaps worth questioning the ethical implications of some of the factors that are currently in use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As mentioned earlier, lawmakers in some states have already outlawed the use of credit scores&nbsp; as a factor in auto premiums. This means they have the ability to do the same for other factors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is very little chance that whether or not a person has gotten a COVID vaccine will factor into how much they pay for auto coverage. But the compelling data around the issue provides an opportunity to examine what personal factors insurance companies are allowed to charge policyholders for, and whether they should be allowed to do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Affiliate Disclosure: Automoblog and its partners may earn a commission if you purchase a plan from the car insurance providers outlined here. These commissions come to us at no additional cost to you. Our research team has carefully vetted dozens of car insurance providers. See our Privacy Policy to learn more.\u00a0\u00a0 Car insurance companies use factors such as drivers\u2019 demographic information, driving history, and more to calculate individual premiums. Statistical correlations between factors like a driver\u2019s age and the likelihood [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":174,"featured_media":426261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58163,43031],"tags":[],"model":[],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Kristin McClure","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426256"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/174"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426256"},{"taxonomy":"model","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.automoblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/model?post=426256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}