If you've ever gone shopping for high risk auto insurance you probably already know that nine times out of then those words don't have any business being in the same sentence-unless there's a "not" involved! Believe it or not, however, finding cheap high risk auto insurance without having to sacrifice the quality of your coverage isn't as difficult as you think.

There are three things that impact the cost of your high risk auto insurance:

1) You as a person

2) You as a driver

3) Your auto

You'd be surprised at what your high risk auto insurance provider takes into consideration when they're calculating the cost of your insurance premiums, and you might want to make sure there's a defibrillator around before you ask what they'll offer you a discount for. The first thing insurance companies usually ask is how old you are. If you're a young driver you're going to be considered a high risk regardless of how talented you are behind the wheel. The good news is, most insurance companies offer discounts for teen drivers with an excellent GPA, since good grades mean there's a good chance that a) you're responsible, and b) you paid attention in Driver's Ed!

For adult drivers where you live, what your credit score is and what profession you happen to work in are going to influence the cost of your high risk auto insurance. You're probably not going to move or change jobs to lower your insurance premiums (although you might want to make sure your insurance company knows-either of those things might qualify you for a discount), but keeping a good credit score can help lessen the impact of being labeled a "high risk" driver.

For most people their driving history is what left them looking for cheap high risk auto insurance in the first place. Multiple speeding tickets and/or accidents on your DMV history, a conviction for drunk driving or deciding to take up stunt riding will send your premiums through the roof, and many insurers may choose not to insure you at all. Taking a Driver's Improvement course, either in person or online, puts "brownie points" back onto your driver's license and lowers their premiums.

The best thing you as a driver can do to bring down your high risk auto insurance premiums is to keep your nose clean. There are very few offenses that aren't wiped clean off your record after five years, which means if you can keep your record clean for five years you can not only get rid of the "high risk" stamp on your policy folder but might even be able to qualify for a 5 Year Good Driver discount.

Finally, your auto. Expensive cars cost more to insure than second-hand clunkers, so if your premiums are about to send you to the poorhouse you might want to think about changing up your mode of transportation for a while. Cars with extra safety features cost less to insure, and cars that don't drive very far are at less risk of an accident and therefore more coverage friendly. Higher deductibles and fewer perks also help cushion your monthly payments to make the high risk auto insurance coverage you deserve as affordable as you need it to be.

Any and all of these factors will influence the cost of your premiums and, if used properly, could be the key to finding the cheap high risk auto insurance you've been looking for.