Does Being Married Lower Car Insurance?

But, there are certain scenarios when marriage adversely affects your premiums. Learn why marital status is so important to car insurance companies and when you need to add your spouse to your car insurance plan below.

Yes, being married often lowers car insurance. The amount it can save you varies by state and company, but many top insurers report that married couples save between 5% to 15%, which amounts to over a hundred dollars in savings per year, on average.

Relationship status matters to your insurance provider because, historically, it’s one indicator of risk that factors into premiums. Insuring married couples is less risky for a carrier than insuring a single person because married drivers tend to file fewer claims than single or divorce drivers.

Insurance companies deal with mitigating risk. They want to cover as many people as possible to make a profit, but they need to minimize their risk. To calculate risk, they look at all available factors indicating the potential for filing a claim. Insurers charge people who prove to be higher risk – those who are more likely to file a claim – higher premiums to offset the possible financial loss when covering them.

Married people have proven to be less risky to insure over time. The reasons for married people presenting a lower risk can likely be attributed to a combination of factors. 

Firstly, married people are often over the age of 25. Car insurance premiums are highest for teens and young drivers, and just getting older decreases your car insurance rates. Married people are older than young, single drivers, so their premiums are lower in comparison.

Also, married couples seem to file fewer claims. This could be because they share the driving duties in one car, meaning both partners are on the road less than a single person who accounts for all the time behind the wheel in their vehicle. 

Also, married people may have safer cars, such as minivans or SUVs. These vehicles tend to have safety features that generate discounts, such as traction control, anti-lock brakes, and more. Certain models of cars cost less to insure and having safety features also reduces premiums. 

An insurance company will always ask about your marital status for car insurance quotes. When you indicate you’re married, they may ask for basic information about your spouse and if they’ve had any at-fault accidents or claims in the recent past.

Some states, such as Hawaii and Minnesota, prohibit insurers from allowing relationship status to affect car insurance premiums. However, this doesn’t negate you from acquiring discounts often associated with marriage.

Most companies don’t advertise a marriage discount and don’t even offer a car insurance marriage discount by name. Instead, being married often qualifies you for other discounts, such as multi-car and bundling discounts.

A lot of married couples have more than one car. Many insurers offer multi-car discounts to incentivize you to insure both cars with the same company. Some companies will lower your premiums by up to 25% when insuring more than one car. It also makes your life easier by dealing with one company for all your vehicle insurance needs.

Married couples often have other policies to bundle with their auto insurance to bring about discounts. Insuring your house, boat, or another type of vehicle with your car is an easy way to save around 10-15% on your car insurance premiums. 

Well-established married couples are more likely to own a house, several vehicles, an RV, or a boat to bundle with their auto insurance than young, single drivers.

If you’re not satisfied with your current car insurance marriage discounts, we can help you. Clovered exists to simplify insurance. You can submit our auto quote form in minutes, and one of our licensed agents will get back to you soon with your insurance options. We partner with some of the top carriers in the country to provide you with the coverage you need at the price you want.

Yes, you likely have to add your spouse to your car insurance if you live together. And, it won’t influence your premiums much unless they have a spotty driving record. If your spouse has several driving infractions, having them on your policy can hurt your premiums substantially.

Your insurance company will want to know about all drivers in your household. They typically require them to be listed in your policy. Whether you want to make your spouse a named insured that can make changes and payments on the policy or just add them as a listed, covered driver is up to you.

Even if both spouses have their own cars with policies from different providers, you should be listed on each other’s policies. You’ll definitely have to add your spouse if you share a car. 

Adding your spouse to your policy will probably raise your rates if they have a poor driving record. Listing another driver on your policy always has the possibility to increase your premiums slightly since your provider now has another driver to worry about. But, the cost to add your spouse will be substantial if they have:

Driving records are a significant factor in policy premiums, and someone who has demonstrated that they’re a dangerous driver will pay more for auto insurance. A spouse with any of the above conditions will raise rates for you.

If you want to avoid increasing premiums in this scenario, you can exclude your spouse from your car insurance. Excluding a driver in your policy means they receive no coverage when driving your vehicle. This means your spouse can’t legally drive your car as they won’t have any insurance. Not every state allows you to exclude your spouse from your car insurance, so consult your provider before trying to take action. 

The best car insurance for married couples depends on many factors. The savings married couples can experience varies by company and state, and it depends on the personal factors of the individuals. For instance, if one person has a close relationship with their insurance agent, they might want to go with the company that agent represents for a combined policy.

The best car insurance for married couples will cover all vehicles in the household with more than the minimum liability limits. It should also include aspects of full coverage, like collision and comprehensive coverage, to protect against physical damage to the vehicles. You may also want to look into stacking uninsured motorist coverage in your joint car insurance policy to enhance your coverage against uninsured and underinsured drivers on the road.

Also, be sure to take advantage of all the applicable car insurance marriage discounts we discussed earlier. Car insurance is cheaper if you’re married as long as both spouses have good driving records and look for the right provider.

Married couples can have separate car insurance, although it’s ultimately up to your providers. This can be beneficial when one spouse has a poor driving record. Note that even if you have separate insurance when you live together, you’ll still need to be listed on each other’s policies.

Maintaining separate car insurance plans may make more financial sense when your significant other is a high-risk driver. But, even in this case, they’ll still need to be listed as a covered driver on your plan. Insurers typically require all drivers in an insured’s household to be on a policy.

And, when you indicate your relationship status for car insurance as “married” when getting a quote, most providers will assume you want one policy to cover both of you. 

More often than not, it’s easier to combine plans and get a joint car insurance policy for married couples. It streamlines payments and can qualify you for discounts such as bundling, multi-car, and more.