Car Insurance for Married Couples

When it comes to getting married, there are a considerable number of financial decisions that have to be made. One of them is the affect it will have on your car insurance premiums. There are statistics that insurance companies use to show the affect that being married has on your rates which is something that you will need to take into account. There are important factors to take into account when comparing car insurance married vs. single.

The Effect of Being Married on Car Insurance Rates:

When it comes to car insurance for married couples, the overall effect is that you will pay lower rates because statistics show that a married person is actually less likely to be in an accident than a single person. This may sound strange at first since an accident can happen to anyone. But the truth is that that those who are married tend to stay more within the speed limit and take fewer chances than their single counterparts.

A 2004 study performed by the National Institutes of Health discovered after interviewing 10,525 adults that those who were single have twice the risk of being injured when driving as compared to drivers who were married. It is this study among others that has demonstrated to insurance companies that with all else being equal, married drivers are simply less likely to be in a serious accident than single people.

Should You Combine Policies?

Just because married drivers are less likely to be in an accident does not necessarily mean that you should combine policies. Remember that there are a number of other factors in place that include the following;

• Age
• Driving Record
• Credit Rating
• Type of Vehicle
• Number of Miles Traveled per Day and More

All of these factors will go into your combined auto insurance which means that if your spouse has a poor driving record for example, your rates could rise considerably. In some cases, you may not want to combine policies if you or your spouse drives a valuable classic auto or a model that is very pricey to insure. Plus, if they travel a lot more per day than you do, then the added number of miles will raise your rates.

Factors for Combining Policies:

Of course, your rates will go down if your partner has a cheap vehicle to insure or travels far fewer miles per day. This means that even those with high risk driver’s auto insurance may see their rates go down if their partner has a much better driving record. All of this will have to be balanced by the amount of savings as compared to having separate policies.

One factor that you should consider is the discount from having multiple vehicles under one insurance company. In fact, if one partner also has home, boat, or other type of insurance that can be bundled under one insurer the savings could be considerable.

In addition, it should be noted that those in domestic partnerships and roommates can also have combined policies. Be sure to check with your insurance agent to weigh the different factors when you consider combining auto insurance policies.