Car Insurance for Married Couples

Summary: Although car insurance for married couples is often less expensive, other partnerships have options to save. Furthermore, when you are married, there are ways to maximize savings and coverage by comparing carriers available in your area. Estimated Read Time: 8 mins

How you protect yourself and your property changes once you tie the knot. Finding car insurance for married couples is important for anyone joining their union and is often necessary to avoid coverage gaps. Learn how to save on premiums and the best way to insure your vehicles as a couple.

Which Group Pays More for Car Insurance Married or Single?

Car insurance for married couples often provides lower premiums because insurers perceive them as more stable and less risky drivers. This stems from studies showing fewer accidents and claims among married individuals.

Additionally, bundling policies, like combining car insurance with renters or homeowners insurance, often leads to extra discounts for married couples. These factors combined can lower the cost of car insurance for married couples compared with single drivers, although results vary by insurer.

Can I Add My Girlfriend to My Car Insurance?

Many insurers permit adding a significant other to your car insurance if you cohabit. Carriers may also allow adding your vehicles to a joint policy if both cars are at the same address.

Unmarried couples can share a joint policy or list each other as drivers on separate ones, but it’s essential to check with your insurer for the best option. Here are a few ways to add your partner to your auto insurance policy:

● You can share a policy if there is a vehicle or multiple vehicles at the same residence, in many cases. This can provide you with the opportunity for multi-car discounts and lower your average insurance cost.

● Partners can also keep separate policies but add each other as listed drivers if they drive each other’s vehicles on a regular basis.

● Finally, adding a partner to your policy who doesn’t have the best driving history may raise your rates. Rather than adding them to your policy, you can exclude them, but in this case, they cannot drive your vehicle without being liable for damages out of pocket. In Texas, this is usually done with a named driver exclusion endorsement, and the details vary by carrier.

Car Insurance for Unmarried Couples

The requirement to add a partner to your car insurance policy varies by insurer. Typically, insurance companies want to know about all licensed drivers residing in your household who have access to a vehicle.

If your partner regularly uses your car, your insurer may mandate adding them to your policy as a driver.

Once you and your partner are married and living together, many insurers expect both spouses to be listed, and some require a shared policy.

In case of a breakup when sharing car insurance, both parties must obtain separate policies promptly to avoid being uninsured. This ensures each individual has coverage for their vehicles and driving needs.

How To Find the Best Car Insurance for Married Couples

Protecting your vehicles and liability as a couple is important, but you’ll need to shop around to find the right carrier for your needs as a whole. Here’s how to find car insurance for married couples that saves on premiums and provides personal coverage:

Determine Your Coverage Needs as a Couple

To find the best car insurance for married couples, evaluate your joint coverage needs before enrolling.

Consider factors like the number of vehicles owned, driving records, commuting habits, and future drivers in the family.

This assessment helps determine the necessary coverage types and levels to protect both spouses and assets effectively.

Compare Carriers

Once you’ve identified your coverage requirements, gather quotes from multiple insurers. Evaluate the coverage options, premiums, and available discounts from each provider.

When shopping for auto insurance for married couples, look beyond just the price, considering factors such as customer service reputation and claim processing efficiency.

Look for Bundles and Discounts

Finally, to save more on joint car insurance for married couples, you’ll want to search for bundles and discounts among carriers.

If you only compare the initial price of your coverage, you may be overpaying for coverage.

Be sure to look at the potential bundles that combine your home or renter’s insurance with an auto policy, along with discounts that you personally qualify for.

For more information about bundles and discounts on car insurance for married couples, contact an agent to search for auto coverage in Texas available near you.

Can Texas insurers charge differently based on marital status?

Yes, within limits. The Texas Department of Insurance auto insurance guide says a company may not turn you down or charge you more because of your age, gender, marital status, geographic location or disability unless it can show that you’re a greater risk for a loss than other people it’s willing to insure. In practice, many insurers do use marital status as one rating factor among many, and research supports the link. A New Zealand cohort study published in Injury Prevention found that never-married adults had about twice the risk of serious driver injury as married adults, after adjusting for age, sex and other factors.

Marriage is only one piece of the price, though. TDI notes that most companies also consider your driving record and claims history, where you keep your car, the kind of car you drive, how you use it and, for some companies, your credit. When two people combine policies, all of those factors for both drivers and every vehicle go into the premium.

What to update on your auto policy after the wedding

1. Tell your insurer about the marriage. A change in marital status may change your rate, and the insurer needs current information about who lives in your household.
2. Decide whether to combine policies. Compare a joint policy with keeping separate policies, using the same coverage limits.
3. List both drivers and all household vehicles. TDI explains that most policies cover you, your family and people driving your car with permission, but you should check who your policy covers and whether anyone is excluded.
4. Update names and addresses. If either spouse changes their last name or you move, update your driver’s license, vehicle titles and registration, and your insurance so the records match.
5. Review titles and loans. If a car is financed, the lender may need to be listed on the policy that covers it.
6. Match coverage levels. If one spouse carried higher liability limits or better uninsured motorist coverage, consider using the higher level for both.

Combining policies: when it helps and when it doesn’t

Combining usually makes the most sense when both spouses have clean records and the cars are kept at the same address. A combined policy may qualify for a multi-car discount, and the Insurance Information Institute notes that many insurers give a break when you buy two or more types of insurance from them or insure more than one vehicle with the same company. It also recommends shopping around, because buying from different companies can sometimes cost less than a multi-policy discount.

Combining may not help if one spouse has recent accidents, serious violations or a lapse in coverage. In that case, compare the cost of a joint policy against other options, such as keeping that spouse’s vehicle on a separate policy if the insurer allows it. If you consider excluding a spouse, remember that an excluded driver has no coverage under your policy when driving your car.

An example

Consider a newly married couple in Houston. One spouse has a clean record and a five-year-old sedan. The other has one at-fault accident from last year and a newer SUV. Their agent quotes three options: a combined policy for both cars, separate policies with each spouse as the main driver of their own car, and a combined policy plus a renters policy with the same company. They compare the total yearly cost of each option with identical liability, uninsured motorist and collision coverage before choosing.

Coverage questions for married couples

Liability limits

Marriage often means shared finances and, in Texas, community property, which generally includes property either spouse acquires during the marriage other than separate property. If one spouse causes a serious crash, a judgment could affect the household’s assets. That’s a good reason to review liability limits and consider an umbrella policy as your net worth grows.

Bundling with home or renters insurance

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) lists marriage as a life event that should prompt a review of your coverage. It notes that when you merge two households, you may be eligible for discounts on home and auto insurance by bundling with the same company, and that it’s a good time to make sure engagement and wedding jewelry and expensive gifts are covered. Our guide to finding the best home and auto insurance bundle explains how to compare packages.

Life insurance

The NAIC also points out that married couples often make financial decisions based on two incomes, which makes marriage a good time to consider life insurance.

Common mistakes

• Not telling the insurer about the marriage or a new household driver. Incomplete information can cause problems at claim time.
• Comparing quotes with different coverage. A cheaper joint quote with lower limits isn’t a true savings.
• Letting one policy lapse before the new policy starts. Cancel the old policy only after the new one takes effect.
• Forgetting name changes. Mismatched names on titles, licenses and policies can slow down claims.
• Excluding a spouse without understanding the risk. An excluded driver isn’t covered when driving your car.

Frequently asked questions

Do married couples have to be on the same car insurance policy in Texas?

Texas law doesn’t require it, but many insurers expect both spouses in the household to be listed, and some require a shared policy. Ask your insurer how it handles separate policies at the same address.

What happens to our policy if we divorce?

Coverage usually needs to be split when cars are kept at different addresses. See our guide to divorce and insurance in Texas.

How can we compare prices?

TDI and the Office of Public Insurance Counsel run HelpInsure.com to compare auto policies sold in your area. You can also request a quote for combined and separate options.

Sources:

1. Motor vehicle driver injury and marital status…, NIH. Accessed February 2024. Injury Prevention study (PubMed Central)

• Auto insurance guide, Texas Department of Insurance
• FAQ: Auto insurance, claims, coverage issues, and more, Texas Department of Insurance
• Is it Time to Review Your Policies?, National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
• Nine ways to lower your auto insurance costs, Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I)
• Insurance After Divorce: Home, Car, Life, Health, Progressive
• Credit-Based Insurance Scores, National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
• HelpInsure.com, Texas Department of Insurance and Office of Public Insurance Counsel
• Tex. Fam. Code §3.002, Community Property, Texas.Public.Law