Top 5 Car Insurance Questions for Older Drivers

"Comprehensive takes care of things like falling tree limbs," Barry says. "It covers just abouteverything."

Read More on Bankrate: Slash your car insurance premiums

Divorce or death of a spouse was another auto insurance review trigger listed by Barry. In his book"Insure Your Car for Less: A Practical Guide to Saving Money on Auto Insurance," David Goldsteinwrote that being married is looked upon as a positive thing by insurers and being single isconsidered a neutral. That change in status can influence the premium.

To pinpoint the key changes older drivers should know, Bankrate turned to two car insuranceexperts. Mike Barry is a vice president at the Insurance Information Institute, a nonprofitinformation service supported through membership by the majority of insurance companies.

Read More on Bankrate: How do I find the best deal on auto insurance?

All manner of factors can influence your credit score, which is a snapshot of an individual's creditworthiness at the current moment. It is a living number that never rests. Life events can impactcredit scores for older and younger drivers alike.

Relocating certainly isn't reserved to older drivers, but often, empty nesters downsize and retireeshead for warmer climates. But regardless of age, moving should mean a call to your insurance agent.According to Baisden, your insurance agent should be one of your first calls when changing youraddress.

Retiring and moving to a fixed income could well affect an older driver's credit worthiness andability to pay his bills. Older drivers should be keenly aware of changes in their credit score. Thisisn't something car insurance companies typically check, but other changes, such as an accident ortraffic ticket might cause an insurer to investigate more comprehensively. A significant drop incredit score that turns up in such a check could negatively affect an auto policy premium.

In other words, don't buy more car insurance than you need.

Changes in the structure of your household should spark an auto policy review and perhaps increaseor lower premiums.

Read More on Bankrate: 6 auto insurance potholes

Although it may not make any sense to us as consumers, in his book, Goldstein reveals thatinsurance companies believe a potential client's behavior with their credit translates to theirbehavior while driving.

All drivers experience changes in their lives that can affect their auto insurance premiums, such asbuying a new car or adding another driver to their policy. But there are some life changes shared byolder drivers that can trigger a review of their policy and probably will affect their premiums forbetter or worse.

Likewise, a child moving out of the parent's house may reduce the premium.

Just as with the price of real estate, auto insurance premiums are heavily influenced by location,location, location. Barry says where the car will "live" is a key factor in premium cost.

The neighborhood in which a car resides is critical, as is whether the car sits overnight in a garageor on the street.

Adult children might move into and out of your home with some regularity. If such an adult child isgoing to drive a parent's car, he or she should be added to the parent's car insurance, increasing thepremium. "An adult child living in the house and on your policy will affect the premium," Barry says.

Even if a move doesn't involve another city or state, it could result in higher or lower risk.

According to Barry, 12,000 miles per year is the typical mileage of a commuter going to and fromwork, as well as general traveling and errand running. Usually, retirement will reduce a driver'spremium because it eliminates the work commute. "Retiring usually drops that figure to 7,000 to8,000 miles," he says.

"For a 10-year-old, or older, car, it doesn't make sense to have collision coverage," he says. He saysthat wrecking a 10-year-old car might cause $4,000 in damage on a car that's worth only $5,000 or$6,000. At some point, collision coverage won't pay for itself. On the other hand, Barry encouragesolder drivers to maintain their comprehensive coverage -- insurance that pays for damage to yourcar caused by something other than a wreck -- regardless of the vehicle's age.

According to Barry of the Insurance Information Institute, dropping collision coverage -- insurancethat pays for damage to your car from a wreck -- on an older car may be the fiscally smart action totake.

It's true that when some people retire, they hit the road to see the world. In such cases, they mightput more miles on their vehicle than they did when driving to work every day. However, the averageperson drives less. The core question should always be: "Will you be driving less as a result of thechange?" Baisden says.

Read the original story on Bankrate.com.

Elaine Baisden is a vice president at Travelers Insurance. She says a simple rule of thumb for olderdrivers is that any change impacting vehicle use should trigger a car insurance review. According toBarry, every driver should review his auto insurance policy once a year, regardless of age or majorlife changes. Although the following five events could apply to a driver of any age, older drivers are

more likely to experience them because of the normal issues of aging.

According to Barry, risks increase in urban areas compared with more rural ones. Rates ofvandalism, theft and even accidents increase with greater traffic density and all figure into premiumcosts.

This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.

Most auto insurance companies recognize this drop in annual driving as a reduction in risk and willadjust premiums accordingly. The amount each insurance company will reduce the premium isdifferent, so it's the ideal time to do some comparison shopping. "You might be eligible for discountsand savings," Baisden says.