Do You Have To Be Married To Be On the Same Car Insurance?
A car crash on Jagtvej in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you are a married couple, insurance companies will allow both of you to be on the same car insurance policy. But if you are couple and unmarried can you be on the same car insurance?
Auto insurance companies vary in their rules so it is best to call them individually to find out there rules for unmarried couples. Some insurers have the rule that if you are an unmarried couple and try to get a shared car insurance policy, it is likely you will be turned down. Car Insurers only like to write multiple person policies for people who live at the same address. If a boyfriend or girlfriend live at different addresses they probably won’t get a policy.
When a couple combines policies, they will definitely have a lower premium than two single policies. They will get the second driver discounts and save quite a bit of money. But probably only if they live at the same address.
The possible negatives of having a joint policy is that you are affected by your partners bad habits. If one of the partners have a bad driving record with a lot of accidents or tickets this could drive up the cost of the insurance. Also if one person has bad credit this will impact the price of car insurance and make it more expensive.
Some insurers may prefer the couple to be married and may not write a policy if they are not. But more and more this is not a problem because insurers are seeing more and more households not having a married couples in it.
If you are having problems getting a car insurance policy you may be able to make the policy be only under one name with the other person being a secondary driver. The policy is in the name of the primary driver and that person is responsible for the policy and the payment of the policy. If the primary policy holder decides to cancel the insurance, the secondary driver has no say in the matter.
Unmarried couples don’t have the same rights as married couples. Under law, married couple are seen as one legal entity. Unmarried couples are seen as two separate legal entities. Thus making it harder for insurance companies to deal with.
Category: Insurance, Uncategorized
Very interesting. I never really gave this any thought. We sometimes take for granted some of the advantages given to married couples. Like health insurance and car insurance. These situations are hard to navigate when you are in a serious relationship and have been together for a while. It is almost as though our society forces you to marry to reap the benefits of marriage. Maybe thats the reason for high divorce rates?
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Even consider the marriage penalty on your income tax. It has never been completely addressed yet. Here it is better not to be married.