Getting Married? Should You Combine or Separate Your Insurance Coverage?
If you are getting married, you need to reexamine the different ways in which you handle all your finances and bills, including your auto insurance. As a married couple, you can combine your auto insurance coverage into one policy or you can keep your auto coverage separate. Here's a closer look at these options.
1. Combining Your Insurance Coverage
When you get married, you now have the option to combine your car insurance coverage with your spouse. For some individuals, combining your policies will help you save money. If you both only have one vehicle, by combining your insurance coverage, you will now qualify for a multi-vehicle discount. If you also add additional coverage together to your policy, such as renters or homeowner's insurance, you can also get a multi-policy discount.
Combining insurance coverage can also be a great way to even out an imperfect driving history. If one of you has had some tickets in the past or accidents, combining your policies could lessen the impact of those tickets and eventually result in lower overall premiums for both of you.
2. Keeping Your Insurance Coverage Separate
If you want, you can both maintain separate car insurance policies. There are some situations where you may save money by keeping your insurance coverage separate. For example, if your partner has some serious driving violations, such as DUI or lots of speeding tickets, you may not want to combine your coverage. The partner with lots of serious violations may need to work with an insurance provider who specializes in providing insurance to high-risk individuals, which can be expensive. Until one's driving records improve, it may be better to keep things separate.
If one of you has a luxury or collector's car, that only one person drives, it may be best to keep that type of vehicle on its own policy as well. Insurance sports and luxury vehicles can be even more expensive when multiple drivers are on the policy.
The decision to either combine or separate your auto insurance coverage when you get married should be based on what is best for your personal situation. You can call up multiple auto insurance companies and get a quote to see if it would be best for you and your spouse to combine your coverage. With a quote, you can make an informed decision about what is the best way to handle your insurance coverage.