Premiums are basically the amount you pay for your auto insurance policy.

The general definition of "premium" is consideration paid for a contract of insurance. Another definition is the price of insurance an insured person pays for a specified risk for a specified period of time.

Another term to be aware of in the auto insurance field is a rate or rate quote. A definition of "rate" is to fix the amount of premium to be charged per unit of insurance. Your insurance company may speak of your rate or your premium or even your premium rate; all of these terms are interchangeable for the most part.

Some agents use rate to refer to the amount you will be charged and premium as the amount you have paid or agreed to pay. For example, they will say this is your "rate" and when you pay that is your "premium.'

So your premium will be the amount you pay for your insurance coverage for the specified time listed on your policy, normally a 6 or 12 month interval.