Let’s face it; people get married for all sorts of different reasons. Some people get married as they are genuinely in love and want to spend the rest of their lives together, some people get married because there’s an accessory for the family around the way or – more likely these days – their children are beginning to ask questions and want them to get married.
Many people choose to get wed for financial benefits including taxes and shared expenses – only one thing which many people don’t realize could change when they get hitched is their vehicle insurance premiums.
Now don’t misunderstand me, I’m not for one minute advising anybody to get married to reduce their insurance fees, I’m just saying that it must be another potential hidden advantage of tying the knot.
Why then does your marital status have any result on your car insurance fees? Not so difficult question don’t you think? When it comes to working out auto insurance rates the insurance companies do nothing more than crunch numbers – they base their premiums on the chances of the each driver being involved in an accident thus increasing the risk of having to make a payout. A driver under 25 years of age having a poor driving history will have to pay more than someone over 25 years of age with a decent driving record since they are much more statistically likely to be involved in an accident.
That’s where marriage comes into the equation . . . .
In accordance with the insurance company numbers married people are statistically less likely to be in an accident than people who are not married. This could sound somewhat discriminatory to many people but the numbers do add up – a study in 2004 of 10,525 adults revealed that unmarried drivers (those who never had been married) were two times as likely to be involved in accidents as drivers who have been married. I suppose it’s all an extension from the “settling down”.
Anyhow, the actual fact remains that getting married may have a positive influence on your life, even as far as your vehicle insurance premiums.
Combined Car Insurance Policies for Couples
This is another area where both parties can usually benefit from the marriage, by combining car insurance policies. This could lead to savings but it is definitely not a foregone conclusion. Let’s look at the evidence.
In the event you both have a clean record but if your spouse has been involved in a number of accidents or accrued traffic tickets then the “other half” could actually see their premiums rise, once you combine motor insurance policies the driving records of both sides will be taken into consideration which is fine. Other times when it may not benefit you from combining policies is;
• If your other half drives a valuable classic car this could increase your insurance costs
• If your other half drives a car which is much more expensive to insure than yours (there are some fabulous models at fiat downey)
• If your spouse drives far more miles daily, month or year than you do
Many of these things should be taken into account but it’s a straightforward enough question to ask your motor insurance company when you are intending to tie the knot . . . it could make any difference to your monthly insurance premiums. It could even pay you to change the make and model of your respective car – take a look at OC Fiat for a few great ideas.