Why does your marital status affect your car insurance price?

Question

i recently got my renewal through for my car insurance. when i phoned them up to question the price, she changed my marital status from divorced to with partner - does that really matter???

Answer 1

i wouldn't think that divorced then changing it to with partner does unless you have a very progressive insurance company that thinks this would also give you the same status as being married thinking that you might have two cars to insure giving you a multi car discount..... sorry not real sure about that... I would ask the agent what that means and what would qualify you for additional discounts on your insurance.... with the price of fuel we all better start being wiser shoppers.

Answer 2

Yes, in insurance we still allow companies to discriminate against people based on characteristics such as gender, age, and marital status.

Answer 3

In a court of law ....yes.  One wrong or misleading answer and the lawyers would have a field day. Anything not to pay out.

Answer 4

Your gender, marital status and your age are all key components when setting the premium by the insurance companies because those three factors tell a lot about your potential risk.

Your gender: generally younger males are going to be a higher risk. Marital status, whether you've settled down and possibly have a family, which is then going to impact the sort of vehicles you're going to be driving, and, of course, your age because a younger driver is potentially going to take more risks than an older driver. It has been statistically proven that drivers of a certain age and gender are a much higher risk to insurers.

Answer 5

It can, depending on your insurance company's rates and rules. Some companies charge less for married people, but only up to a certain age. Other companies use more options, included divorced; divorced with a dependent child in the household; or domestic partnership.

Part of the discount is because of the perceived lifestyle of a married couple or domestic partnership. A couple is more likely to stay home in the evenings, especially if there are kids in the home. On the other hand, singles are more likely to go out (and thus drive more, probably at night). Also, a couple will go some places TOGETHER, thus reducing the total number of miles driven (and reducing the probably of accidents for each).

The difference in rates is based on actuarial statistics. Companies charge more for people who are more likely to have an accident. I'm glad they do! If they didn't charge more, then the lower-risk people would have to pay more to subsidize the higher-risk people.

Answer 6

It does if you're a man . . . because then they know you've got a woman sitting next to you yelling, "SLOW DOWN!  WATCH OUT FOR THE LIGHT!  TAKE A LEFT HERE!" and other backseat driving stuff.

Yep, I do it to my husband, too.

Answer 7

Insurance premiums are calculated from accident statistics which show that,for example, women are safer drivers than men.All manner of such generalisations are drawn from these stats and the premiums set accordingly.

Answer 8

When you're under 25, your marital status affects your rates. They assume that if you're that young, and married, that you are more responsible than others your same age.

If you're over 25, the marital status shouldn't affect the rate. The insurance company wants to make sure they have that information correct to see if there is another exposure in the household or to make sure they are applying correct discounts, such as multi-car discounts.

Answer 9

My guess is that married people (or people involved in long-term, committed relationships) are viewed as more responsible than single people. Maybe they're seen as having more reason to live, therefore more reason to drive safely and to try to avoid accidents caused by others too.

Answer 10

I think (not sure) your  partner is insured at a less expensive premium . I'm taking the car babe sort of stuff .