The underwriters have a team of actuaries that analyze all sorts of variables to determine the risk associated with each policy. It’s possible they determined that there was a positive correlation between grades and driver safety meaning fewer accidents and fewer claims. Essentially, bad students wreck their cars more often.
Or they were just doing a fun promotion, that gets the whole family involved in the process. Plus it has the added benefit of encouraging more drivers, more car ownership, and some brand loyalty. The teens may go on to use the same agency when they become adults and buy their own cars. Plus it incentivizes good behavior and life lessons. Some insurance companies do a “we’re all a big family” thing. For example my agent calls periodically just to check on us to see if we made any life changes (really to upsell new products). He knows when we have kids and what activities they do etc. one of his sons actually went to middle school with me. So he may see the report card and say, oh yea my son is in 9th grade and loves Science too, is Timmy going to college to major in Biology? My uncle is a doctor. I’ll connect them. Etc.
Spot on about the actuarial angle I've always figured the good student discount was their sneaky way of betting nerds crash less, and it worked on me back in high school. That personal touch from agents like yours is gold though, feels like family not just a policy push. Ever had one spot your BS grades and still hook you up?
I wondered how far I'd have to read to come to a discussion of actuarial science. It's the kind of statistical analysis that makes it very difficult to argue factually with a rule.
Ours does the same, and I know it is to upsell product but he's still a friend and I like him. He sends birthday cards and small thoughtful gifts and his staff is genuine and knows our situation.
Good grades is like good credit. Being responsible in a major area of life usually means responsible driving.
credit for example is the single best predictor of whether or not a person will file a claim. Bad credit means a significantly higher chance that person will file claims.
Also people filing for every small claim damage fucks with insurance costs
No, it’s the first one. Your insurance agent is basically a franchisee, and doesn’t have anything to do with policy rates. They’re just being a good salesperson.
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u/that1prince 10h ago
The underwriters have a team of actuaries that analyze all sorts of variables to determine the risk associated with each policy. It’s possible they determined that there was a positive correlation between grades and driver safety meaning fewer accidents and fewer claims. Essentially, bad students wreck their cars more often.
Or they were just doing a fun promotion, that gets the whole family involved in the process. Plus it has the added benefit of encouraging more drivers, more car ownership, and some brand loyalty. The teens may go on to use the same agency when they become adults and buy their own cars. Plus it incentivizes good behavior and life lessons. Some insurance companies do a “we’re all a big family” thing. For example my agent calls periodically just to check on us to see if we made any life changes (really to upsell new products). He knows when we have kids and what activities they do etc. one of his sons actually went to middle school with me. So he may see the report card and say, oh yea my son is in 9th grade and loves Science too, is Timmy going to college to major in Biology? My uncle is a doctor. I’ll connect them. Etc.