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Actuaries get paid a lot of money to figure out how much to charge you for insurance. In fact, when I was going through school my guidance counselor told me I should consider a career in “actuarial science” because of my math skills but I told her I wanted to make a quick buck on this “internet” thing. Too bad the “internet” didn’t pan out otherwise I’d be filthy rich. Regardless, someone at Fatwallet posted a link to State Farm’s insurance scorecard (for the lack of a better term) which gives you a really good idea of what to expect when you decide to go insure your car.

The LRI stands for Liability Rating Index and refers to the premiums you pay on bodily injury and property damage liability coverage. VSD stands for Vehicle Safety Discount and the percentage is a discount for the medical payments and personal injury protection coverage. Finally, DTI stands for Damage and Theft Index and refers tot he premiums you pay on collision and comprehensive coverage. An “A” rating means you pay less than average, “B” is average, and “C” is above average.

The values are what you’d expect – high-demand, “stealable” cars have a “C” rating for DTI while clunky soccer-mom vans usually get an “A” rating. What’s also interesting is to check out the VSD values for various cars. SUVs and vans usually get high discounts (40% is the maximum from State Farm it seems) while your aluminum can cars from Kia and Hyundai get almost nothing, unless it’s a minivan.

My own car, a Toyota Celica, has the absolute worst score possible – “C”s in both LRI and DTI with a 0% discount on VSD! It’s a small sporty car so I’d expect those ratings and those costs. How’s your car stack up?