Most types of insurance policy have key factors involved, but each type of policy will have factors that directly relate to that policy. For example, the age of the insured person is important for health insurance and automobile insurance, but the health insurance provider won't need to know the make and model of your car. In general, all insurance coverage will need to know your age, marital status, and where you live. These factors affect the basic risk level of the policy for all coverages. All insurance applications will need to know your credit score as well.

For car insurance, the company also needs to know the make and model of the car, along with the vehicle's VIN number. Along with your credit score, the company will need to know your driving history, and for that they will need your driver license number. Other factors will include how far you drive your car annually, the distance from your home to work, and even what your work hours are. Basically, the more the insurance company knows about your expected driving habits, the better they can anticipate potential risks.

Your health is important in most cases, but it is less important for car insurance than, say, health or life coverage, for obvious reasons. Home insurance will not generally ask many health-related questions, as the policyholder is not an insured interest on the policy, but life insurance companies may even go as far as to ask you to take a physical examination, especially if you are over the age of 55.

For home coverage, as with auto insurance, the location is important, although for different reasons. For the home, the risk increases if the home is in an area prone to natural disasters or experiencing severe economic turmoil. Locations that have a history or even occasional floods may not offer any direct flood insurance, for example, requiring you to seek a special, more expensive insurer.