Do I have to add my spouse to my car insurance?

Your car insurance will go up if you add your wife to your policy and your insurance company views her as a relatively high-risk driver. Your car insurance rate will also go up if your wife has a vehicle that you are adding to the policy as well. However, if your wife is considered a safe driver and is not bringing her own vehicle to policy, your insurance rate may not change at all when you add her. It could even decrease.… read full answer

Married couples generally enjoy benefits like multi-driver and multi-car discounts that can make their insurance premiums less expensive than those of their single peers, so your car insurance may actually go down, rather than up, if you add your wife to your policy. However, auto insurance companies rely on a wide range of factors, including DMV records and insurance coverage histories, for all the active drivers named on a policy when calculating rates, so a certain outcome is far from guaranteed.

Your Car Insurance May Go Up If You Add Your Wife and She:

• Has traffic violations or accidents on her driving record.
• Has been convicted of a DUI/DWI.
• Has no/poor credit history.
• Has no/little history as an active driver.
• Has a long daily commute.
• Drives a high-risk vehicle, like a sports car.
• Drives a vehicle lacking safety features.
• Is younger than 25 years old.

Remember, simply adding your wife, husband, partner or any other driver to your car insurance policy doesn’t necessarily mean your rate will automatically go up, so it’s best to check with your insurer to be sure. You might also want to start shopping around for auto insurance policies geared toward married couples if you want to get the cheapest rate.

Yes, someone can drive your car and be covered on your insurance if you give the driver permission to use your car and they are not excluded from your policy. Car insurance typically follows the car, not the driver, so your policy will still apply if the person using your car … read full answergets into an accident. This is often referred to as permissive use.

When Permissive Use Does Not Apply

• You have a non-standard auto insurance policy that excludes anyone who is not listed on the policy from coverage.
• You’ve specifically excluded the driver from your policy.
• The driver using your car lives in the same household as you and is excluded from permissive use by your policy.
• The driver gets into an accident in your car while under the influence or committing a crime.

If permissive use does apply and the driver using your car gets into an accident, your insurance will cover the cost of the damage up to your policy limits. However, if the accident expenses exceed your coverage limits, the driver’s own insurance can apply as secondary coverage. If they don’t have their own policy, then they will be financially responsible for amounts in excess of your coverage.

Adding a driver to a car insurance policy can cost as little as $0 extra, or it can add as much as 100%+ to your annual premium. The exact cost of adding a driver to an existing policy depends on the person you’re adding, whether you need to insure an additional vehicle, and which car insurance company covers you. The riskier the additional driver is to insurers, the more it will cost to add them to your policy.… read full answer

For example, adding an experienced driver with a clean driving record won’t cost as much as adding a newly-licensed teenager. Adding a teen driver to a policy increases the premium by an average of 140% to 160%, according to several studies, but it could be much higher or lower depending on your state.

Why Adding Another Driver to Car Insurance Affects Premiums?

Having someone else listed on your policy means it won’t always be you (and your level of risk) behind the wheel. Remember, car insurance follows the car, and insurers calculate prices based on the risk that the car will be in an accident. That risk is different when more people get the chance to drive.

Simply adding a second driver to an already covered vehicle won’t always spike your rate. But if you’re adding both a driver and their personal vehicle to your policy, your rates will likely go up quite a bit. Adding a car creates the need for more coverage, which costs more.

Here’s an example of how premiums might change on a six-month policy covering a 2014 Hyundai Sonata after the addition of a 16-year-old, a 30-year-old, and a 50-year-old, respectively.

As you can see, the cost of adding a driver is highest when that driver is a newly-licensed teen. Otherwise, it’s usually very affordable to add a driver. In some cases, it could even save you money.