Should doctors pay less for car insurance?

HARTFORD, Conn. - Your profession could land you a discount on auto insurance, but you might be surprised which occupations get a break -- or annoyed about which ones don't.



Several auto insurers have started granting discounts of 5 percent to 15 percent to attract doctors, engineers and firefighters, among others, in certain states.



But salespeople, politicians, clergy, homemakers and others with a lower-than-average frequency of crashes do not usually get an occupational discount.



For years, many insurers have given price breaks to people who belong to ``affinity groups,'' which include professional associations and groups such as AARP and AAA. The newer job-related discounts, though, are available to certain consumers directly, not requiring membership in an organization.



The occupation discounts are among insurers' latest ways of attracting the drivers they think pose the lowest risk or the highest profit potential.



Yet some of the occupations on their most-wanted lists, such as physicians and architects, have some of the highest accident rates, according to a study released last fall. San Francisco-based Quality Planning studied data that state motor vehicle departments gave insurers.