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Adding A Driver To Car Insurance – How To Add Your Spouse, Children & Parents

Do you want to add a spouse, brother-in-law, roommate or children to your existing plan? It’s possible to insure the entire family on a single car insurance plan by adding your immediate relatives: spouse, children, and parents. This can bring down the costs of car insurance because each individual member doesn’t have to purchase separate insurance. Everyone can be insured under your main plan. This is called “named driver insurance” or “additional drivers insurance”. When you add additional people to the main car insurance they’re called “named drivers”. Adding a second person to your car insurance won’t double your premiums, but the increases are determined based on the age and license of the named drivers you’re insuring. 

The difference between the main policy-holder and named drivers is that named drivers do not have the same coverage as the main policy-holders. Example: if the plan’s medical coverage is capped at $500,000 theirs could be $50,000. The difference in price is noticeable too: some insurers will increase your premiums significantly depending on their age, driving record, and more. Each policy will have varying limits for coverage based on the insured’s car (if the car is newer the premiums will be higher).

How To Go About Adding A Driver To Car Insurance?

There are discounts and increases depending on the named driver. Certain demographics can lower your existing premiums (mature drivers). Others will increase it: if you add a child under 26 your premiums will increase significantly. If you add your parents without a bad driving record, your premiums will decrease. Teenagers between the ages of 16-19 have the highest car insurance policies because they are the most high-risk group on the road. In general, youth drivers under 26 years old are considered dangerous by insurance companies and although prices drop after they turn 20, they don’t stabilize until a driver is in their 30s. Parents will have to pay higher insurance premiums to add their children to their policy. If you’re a young driver you can add your parents to your insurance policy and this will actually make you pay less on your yearly premiums.

Benefits Of Adding A Driver To Car Insurance

  • Can share a car. The whole family can use the same car.
  • Can add non-siblings. You could technically add your roommates or employees to your insurance plan.
  • Can save money on premiums. You can lower your premiums if you add your parents to your plans.

The Costs Of Adding A Driver To Car Insurance

If your car insurance premium is $2,000 a year, how much would adding a driver increase your costs? The following factors will determine whether your policy premium increases or decreases:

  • The age of the named driver
  • The marital status of the named driver
  • The relationship to the policy-holder (if they’re an immediate relative or a friend)
  • The car status of the named driver (if they own a car and have separate insurance)
  • There are discounts for people who own their own cars
  • The type of license/driving ability of the person and if they have previous medical conditions
  • Driving history and/or past convictions

Note: Certain auto insurers will make you pay additional administrative fees in small amounts up to $50 to add a second person to your car insurance. If you’re adding drivers multiple times a year this can be costly to your annual expenses. It might be wise to only add people you plan to keep permanently.

How To Complete Adding A Drivers To Car Insurance?

Depending on the auto insurer in question, you should be able to add a new driver to your policy in less than an hour. You either have to call the insurance company or use their online platform where you can add drivers. Many companies encourage you to add drivers through their online platform. All you have to do is log in and update your information. Example: big insurance companies such as State Farm, GEICO and Progressive allow you to log in on their online platform and add drivers. You can also call them over the phone and they will add a driver to your policy by asking you a few questions.

The only requirement for adding a driver to your new policy is to fill out basic information such as their full name, date of birth, gender, SSN, occupation, type of license they possess, how long they’ve had their license, recent traffic tickets and/or accidents. Once they have this information the person will be added as a named driver.

Warning: Avoid Fronting

Be cautious not to assign someone as the main driver of your insurance policy if you think that this will decrease your premiums. This is an illegal practice and the insurance companies will catch on. For example, if you’re a young person and you name your parents as the main drivers of your insurance policy to decrease your premiums (but you’re actually the main driver), the insurance company will find out and you’ll be in trouble with the law. Many young people think that by adding a senior who is more experienced and will have lower premiums they can also name them as the main driver to pay half on their insurance policy. If you get in an accident and the company determines that you were the main driver all along, you might be facing serious problems. This is why you should avoid fronting and be truthful with your insurer.