If you live with another person, not only can you add that person to your car insurance, you should add him or her! You will notice that when you are looking for a quote for car insurance coverage, one of the questions asked by every insurer is about the driving history of all the drivers in your household.
Insurance companies want to list and charge appropriately for every driver in your home. Since insurance is about the risk of being involved in an accident, it makes sense for the insurer to want to know the true risk it is undertaking.
Of course auto insurance regulations differ from one state to another and different companies have different policies concerning adding others to an auto insurance policy. Read on to learn the details and then be sure to enter your zip code above to find cheap car insurance quotes!
The Impact of Adding Another Person to Your Insurance Coverage
If you are adding another driver to your insurance coverage, it may or may not affect the cost of your premium. If the person has significant driving experience and has a good driving record, chances are there will be minimum to no charge for the addition to your policy. However, if you are adding a new driver, a young driver or one with a less than stellar driving record, expect changes to your premium.
Drivers under the age of 25 will be costly additions to your insurance, especially male drivers. If you add someone who has accidents or tickets in the past 3 years on their driving record you will find that, depending on the number of accidents or tickets and the seriousness of them, your policy will increase anywhere from slightly to substantially.
If the other person you are adding to your policy has a very serious offense like a DUI or a very bad driving record, you may find that the addition puts your policy into the high risk category, making it virtually impossible to afford. If this is the case, you may want to talk to your insurance company about a policy that excludes that person from coverage. Insurers are more likely to consider such an option if the other person who shares your home has his or her own vehicle and insurance coverage.
Consequences of Not Adding a Person You Live With to Your Car Insurance
By not listing someone who lives with you and drives your vehicle onto your car insurance policy you are committing fraud. If a claim arises through his or her use of your vehicle you will be facing not only the possibility of the claim being denied, but also the possibility of your policy being cancelled for fraud.
If it is obvious that you fraudulently took out a policy and neglected to provide information concerning a member of your household because you knew it would impact your premium, your insurance company can cancel your policy. A cancelled policy makes it much harder for you to get reasonably priced coverage in the future because you are deemed high risk.
Shopping for Car Insurance
Anytime you make changes to your car insurance that cause a change in premium, it makes sense to shop around for prices from different insurers so that you can find out if your insurance company is charging you a competitive price. Get as many prices as you can from a variety of insurance companies that write policies in your part of the country. In order to do so in the most efficient and effective way possible, opt to use a free online quote tool. Such tools collect the necessary information about your insurance needs, your vehicle and those who will be using it, and submit that information to multiple car insurance providers.
You will quickly start to receive quotes that are personalized to your needs. Take the time to carefully compare them. Expect to see variations in price as each insurance company has its own guidelines concerning discounts and rate setting. However, if a quote is significantly lower than everyone else, look carefully at the details before going for it. There may be things excluded or limitations on the policy that other insurance companies do not have. The company itself may also be shaky.
Prior to taking out a new car insurance policy, take the time to look into the financial stability of the insurer and its customer service track record. In order to learn what the company’s financial status and projected ability to meet financial obligations in the future is, get its rating from one of the independent insurance ratings companies. These companies such as A.M. Best or Standard & Poor’s assign a letter grade to all insurance companies for such things. You can learn about how an insurer treats its customers by doing an online search for reviews and complaints about the company.
Take the time to do your homework and put our quote tool on the case for car insurance coverage today. Just enter your zip to start comparing free quotes!
