Auto Insurance

[reach449 2]

Hello Everyone,

My new wife and I live in Tennessee. She has had her Tennesse driver's license for almost 7 months now. I haven't added her to my auto policy yet. But she is still covered under the "uninsured motorists" clause of my policy.

My question is does anyone know when you add your new spouse to your auto policy, does your rates go up, maybe because she is a new driver in the states? She has been driving for 20 years, but only 7 months in the states. Her driver's record is clean, but she has a temporary license until she gets her 10 year green card next year.

Any experiences to share?

Thanks,

Reach449

[Otto 83]

I'm not certain uninsured/under-insured coverage is the same as the state's requirement of liability coverage, but your policy may be different..

Here in Texas (and presumably elsewhere) your rate would go up since it's an additional driver - and at a higher than you'd think rate - since they seem to evaluate drivers based not just on their driving record but their credit history as well (experience doesn't seem to hold much value).

[Jasman0717 9]

I wouldn't bet that she is covered under the uninsured motorist, you better check with your insurance agent. Claudeth wants to get a drivers licence but the cost for insurance for her is about $200 to $300 a month

Edited January 18, 2009 by jasman0717

[anitacastillo 0]

Hello Everyone,

My new wife and I live in Tennessee. She has had her Tennesse driver's license for almost 7 months now. I haven't added her to my auto policy yet. But she is still covered under the "uninsured motorists" clause of my policy.

My question is does anyone know when you add your new spouse to your auto policy, does your rates go up, maybe because she is a new driver in the states? She has been driving for 20 years, but only 7 months in the states. Her driver's record is clean, but she has a temporary license until she gets her 10 year green card next year.

Any experiences to share?

Thanks,

Reach449

In our state, CA, it is illegal to drive without insurance coverage.

My understanding, uninsured motorist is to cover if you (an insured driver) are in an accident with an uninsured driver. So if she is in an accident, the other driver will be covered. But her vehicle and her medical expenses will not be covered.

Also, when I review my insurance there is a question - what other drivers live in your household? Is there such a question on your renewal?

[tanyaru 3]

Hello Everyone,

My new wife and I live in Tennessee. She has had her Tennesse driver's license for almost 7 months now. I haven't added her to my auto policy yet. But she is still covered under the "uninsured motorists" clause of my policy.

My question is does anyone know when you add your new spouse to your auto policy, does your rates go up, maybe because she is a new driver in the states? She has been driving for 20 years, but only 7 months in the states. Her driver's record is clean, but she has a temporary license until she gets her 10 year green card next year.

Any experiences to share?

Thanks,

Reach449

Are you already claiming "married" discount on your policy??? If no then by adding your wife you will let them know about your marital ststus. If because of adding her rate will go up it will be balanced back with "married" discount. Joint policies are always cheaper then separate ones and a lot depends on the age of the driver (I'm not yet 25 so my policy always cost me).

My experience: when I got married we went to my hubby's insurance company for joint insurance policy and my rate dropped from $150 to $67 per month!!! His rate went down only $7 per month though (he already had a very low rate). But, it is also important here that I had US licence for 2.5 years and good credit at that point.

Edited January 18, 2009 by tanyaru

[MrsCat 6]

Ours didn't go up at all, other than adding a new vehicle. They didn't even ask for previous history, just for my driver's license #. That was it. We're with Geico.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Ours didn't go up except for adding the new vehicle as well. I also didn't have to include a copy of my driving record and just sent a copy of my DL - Ontario one at first and then the GA one when I got it. We also got a discount because we use them for both car and house insurance. We're with AllState and the rates seem quite reasonable - we got a quote from Geico once and it was higher than we were already paying.

[brtlmj 0]

My new wife and I live in Tennessee. She has had her Tennesse driver's license for almost 7 months now. I haven't added her to my auto policy yet. But she is still covered under the "uninsured motorists" clause of my policy.

I am pretty sure she is not. She might conceivably be insured as an "occasional driver", but most insurers I checked explicitly state that a "member of the household" cannot be an "occasional driver."

I strongly recommend that you add her to your policy. Yes, your premiums will probably go up. It might help if you "assign" her to the oldest, cheapest car you have (if you have more than one).

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I went in to talk to my agent--State Farm in Texas. She said your car is insured, so he is covered if you give him permission to drive your car. I asked if my rates would go up a lot to add him. She said not at all. And because Texas won't give him a driver's license yet, she said to wait to add him to the policy. I asked again recently when we saw her in Target. She again said wait until he has a license to add him. So he is driving using his UK license, but not on my policy yet.

Don't make assumptions. Go ask your agent if you want the straight answer for your state and insurance provider. Insurance companies have to operate by the insurance laws of the state where they are doing business.

[Donna A 4]

mine never went up either. they didnt even ask anything about him...just added him.

[Jasman0717 9]

Insurance in California costs an arm and leg and then to add a new driver (inexperienced like Claudeth) they want a ton more

[Kez/JWolf 6]

I added Kez to my insurance when we got married. There was no extra charged and all we had to send was a copy of her UK DL and then update it with her State DL once she got that.

[Jasman0717 9]

I pay a little shy of $500 every six months for full coverage in southern California. Adding Claudeth will more than double that.

[*Maureen* 0]

well we have plpd so it's very cheap!

[Slightly Bonkers 0]

All y'all whose insurance did NOT go up on adding a new driver, were they NEW drivers with full driving licenses? (ie not instructional or probationary?)