It’s nerve-racking to wait for your new or renewal El Paso auto insurance rate quote. While you wait, all the driving sins you’ve committed over the past year or more rest heavily on your shoulders and you may become increasingly sure that every choice you’ve made, including the color you’ve chosen for your vehicle, will backfire on you.

A lot of these concerned are due to myths that abound about auto insurance rating. Let’s take a few minutes to disprove some of them.

Vehicle color determines rates: When was the last time a car insurance company or agent even inquired what color your car was? That answer should be never, because vehicle color does not factor into auto insurance rates. While a sports car might be given a higher rate than a sedan, the color has no bearing; it’s all about the propensity of a driver of one type of car to behave a certain way and, subsequently, bring more risk to the insurer.

Personal ownership of the vehicle means personal insurance is required: When you cover a vehicle, you are insuring it against the risks it faces while it is being operated—not the risks it faces due to who is on the title. If you use your personally owned car for your business, then you need commercial auto insurance.

Getting married makes auto insurance rates inexpensive: When underwriters establish your risk and decide how much you should be charged, they look for insights about your potential behavior based on your age, marital status and driving record. So while getting married certainly helps to make you look like  a more conservative driver, your driving history could counter-balance that and leave you with no significant discounts due to marital status.

Having an accident will increase your rates: The nature of any accidents you have will go far in determining whether or not you suffer a rate increase as a result. If you have an accident and your driving did not contribute to it, but you have a claim against the uninsured motorist coverage on your policy, then there may be no rate increase at all. Insurance companies are looking for behaviors that deserve rate increases, not incidents beyond your control.

When it comes to something as intangible as an auto insurance rating system, myths are sure to present themselves. But there is a easy way to disprove the myths and get to the truth—and that is to contact your agent. He or she will help you verify what is fact and what is myth when it comes to your car insurance premium.