A survey carried out last month has highlighted a correlation between careers and speeding fines. Statistically, workers with better paid, professional jobs such as barristers, footballers and doctors are more likely to beak the speed limit because they can afford the penalties easier.
Among the least likely to offend were au pairs, astrologers and driving examiners, being only 4.5% more likely to break the speed limit. By contrast, footballers were 27% more likely to offend.
These revelations are fuelling discussions about whether it would be fairer to charge car insurance premiums based on job title, as well as personal circumstances. It would mean that those in jobs seen as ‘low risk’ would get a better deal on their premiums, and not be charged for insurance they perhaps cannot afford on their wage.
Along the same lines, some car insurance providers have now offered a new category to their list of occupations – Celebrity. So many reality TV shows in recent years are spawning a growing number of TV celebs, most of whom still need motor insurance, and the existing lists didn’t provide an accurate option. Therefore, celebrity is now an official occupation with some insurers.
But fame has its price even where insurance is concerned. Getting cheap car insurance when you’re a celebrity just isn’t possible. A TV celebrity can expect to pay around 22-25% more on their premium because of their job. Considering many of them started out as unknowns working in normal jobs, it may come as a shock. Add this to the fact that most newly-made celebs tend to go for sportier cars, and they can bump their car insurance almost to a-list prices. We’ll all have to buy a lot more exercise videos…