The social and mental benefits of marriage are debatable. It depends on the person how they view the benefits of marriage, and getting married is a big decision, both legal and financial. But there’s one thing that must be admitted; marriage does bring some stability.
Two people coming together, living together, and earning together is better than living alone all by yourself. But how does getting married affect different spheres of your life? For example, how does marriage affect your auto insurance rates?
This article will take a detailed look into everything you need to know about the effects of marriage on your auto insurance rates. But before we get into the meat of the matter, let’s look at some basics of the insurance rates calculation process.
How Insurance Rates are Calculated
There are many things auto insurance companies consider while calculating auto insurance rates. This is why each individual gets a different insurance rate when looking for insurance quotes.
With the insurance rates rising every year, it is very difficult to get great auto insurance policies at affordable rates. If you are on the lookout, then do navigate to this site to get great auto insurance policies at incredible prices.
But why do people get high auto insurance rates? Let’s take a look at the different factors that affect auto insurance rates.
Why Factors Affect Rates
Auto insurance companies consider dozens of factors before deciding the insurance rates for individuals. Out of all these factors, the most important ones include a person’s driving record, past insurance claims, age, gender, marital status, credit score, location, etc.
While some factors such as driving record might seem obvious, factors like marital status, credit score, etc are confusing to many people. How do these unrelated factors affect your insurance rates?
These factors are all considered because they are either directly or indirectly indicative of the risks associated with the driver. These factors show how likely a person is to get in a car accident.
Auto insurance companies are very careful in assessing the risks of accidents associated with policyholders. If the person is likely to get in a car accident, they charge more to offset the risk. All these various factors contribute to assessing the risk.
A person who has driven a car while drunk (DUI charge) is not too worried about getting in a car accident. This person is a high-risk individual and the insurance company will charge more. But how does marriage come into this?
How Does Marriage Affect Insurance Rates
Whatever views you may have on marriage, there have been multiple studies that show marriage is beneficial for both the people involved. Marriage brings stability and it also brings financial strength.
Statistics have shown that married couples are more responsible drivers, and are less likely to get in a car accident. They are less “rash” than single people and are also less likely to commit traffic violations. The reason behind this cannot be pinpointed.
But perhaps living together brings stability and responsibility, and that could be one of the contributing factors to the decreased risk of car accidents. Insurance companies want people who carry a low risk of accidents. But there’s more.
Another reason why marriage affects insurance rates is financial stability. Married couples are statistically financially stable. They earn more than single people and have a stable source of income.
This is great for auto insurance companies as they need financially stable people who can pay insurance premiums on time. This is the reason why these companies consider credit score as a rate-determining factor.
So the bottom line is that getting married will positively impact your auto insurance rates. Married couples pay less for the same auto insurance policies than single people. How much less? That depends on the state you are living in.
Some states offer minimal discounts, while some other states offer as much as 10% off the insurance rates. On average, a married person pays $100 to $150 less than a single person per annum for auto insurance. So if you were thinking about getting married, forget about the expensive ring. Think about the savings on auto insurance policies!
Adding Registered Driver
Here’s a great way of saving more money on auto insurance policies. Also, this is an important step that you need to take to avoid getting your insurance claim rejected. After you get married, or if you are already married, make sure that you add your spouse or other family members as registered drivers to your policy.
There are multiple benefits of doing so. First and most important is that you do not need to get two separate auto insurance policies. One person’s auto insurance is enough to cover both drivers.
Adding the other person to your insurance will increase your insurance premium rates. But it would still be cheaper than getting two separate policies. Take the benefit of getting married and save money on auto insurance.
Another important thing worth noting is if a family member (your spouse, for example) either uses your car regularly or occasionally, they need to be a registered driver in your policy.
If they do not have auto insurance and are not a registered driver, your insurance company can reject your claim. This could result in a big financial and legal problem. So adding any driver in your family to your car insurance (who doesn’t have auto insurance) is necessary.
So this was all about marriage and its impact on your auto insurance rates. Marriage will reduce your auto insurance rates and help you save on car insurance.
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Ever thought about how marriage affects auto insurance rates? Here’s a detailed article with everything you need to know about how marriage impacts auto insurance rates.