The Color of Your Collar, and Other Ways Geico Rates Your Risk

Perhaps most interesting in the guide is the section on the applicant personally.

Age is very important. The company usually won't write a policy if the only or oldest driver is under 18. And "the most favorable risk is one where the oldest driver on the policy is less than 70 years old."

Marital status and family arrangements are also considered. "One driver that is single, two drivers that are married, and three drivers that include a married couple are most favorable. Other combinations are considered less favorable."

Geico also appears to frown on drivers who frequently shop for insurance. "Longer tenure with current insurer is more favorable that shorter tenure (less than five years)." But if you insist on shopping, it prefers drivers who do so "in advance of his or her insurance policy's expiration date. Also favorable are applicants that were previously covered under their parents' policy."

Other questions, which have stirred controversy, focus on social and economic status -- the higher the better.

The guide divides applicants into half a dozen or so "groups" based on occupation and education. "The most favorable occupations" are those in the top two groups plus military personnel above pay grade E-6 (Army staff sergeant) and graduate students.

Group 1, "occupations that have exhibited superior loss experience in the past," generally requires a bachelor's degree or higher, such as accountants, architects, lawyers, teachers, and "professional Federal employees in an administrative or technical position." Behind them in Group 2 are physicians, executive secretaries, some technical fields and others.

Group 3 covers white-collar jobs requiring at least a high school diploma and that "involve problem solving and/or decision making and the use of judgement." Below them in Group 4 are occupations that usually require a high school diploma, such as technicians, office machine operators, "high skilled artisans" ("married artisans residing with employed spouses" rate Group 3) and "blue collar, foremen, journeymen and nurses."

Group 5 includes "minimally skilled clerks, assistants and postal clerks" along with "unskilled and semiskilled blue and gray collar workers," gray collar generally referring to service workers, such as waiters and security guards.

In addition to these classes, indications that the applicant has lots of assets seem to be a plus. Applicants seeking bodily injury liability limits of $300,000 per person and per accident -- known as "300/300" -- or higher "are considered most favorable and applicants with lower limits (less than 50/100) are least favorable."

For vehicles, "in general more is better. Three or more vehicles is most preferred."

But having said that, the guide adds that it also wants the right combination of cars and drivers. The most favorable combination, the guide says, "is where the number of drivers is the same as the number of vehicles. Less favorable are policies with one driver and multiple vehicles and policies with more drivers than vehicles, except policies with only two drivers and one vehicle."