Insurance companies may take into account your marital status when determining your automobile insurance premiums. In general, a married couple will have lower insurance rates than single individuals. This is if both married drivers have good driving records.

Insurance premiums for married couple may be lowered by insurance companies under the theory that married people are typically more mature and responsible and are less likely to drive recklessly. Some insurance companies may give discounts or a reduction in rates based on lifestyle events that they believe signal greater maturity, such as getting married and having a baby. Thus if you are married with children this may give you a reduction in rate with some auto insurers and not result in you paying out higher rates.

So a discount or lowering of rates may be possible but on the other hand if one or both of drivers in the married couple have bad or poor driving records, than insurance rates could be higher than that of a single driver. If one portion of the married party has a good record and the other has a poor driving history, the one with the bad record can affect the rates of both. This is due to insurance companies rating on the highest risk driver.

Since a car insurance policy usually lists as drivers and covers all licensed household members (meaning you, your spouse and anyone else with a valid license), if any of these people have a poor driving record than your insurance premiums can be affected. If the married spouses have placed 2 or more vehicles on one policy they may also receive a multi-car discount.

Having a baby is not a standard or typical item that affects your auto insurance rate. When you can plan to pay out higher rates is when your children are of driving age since teen drivers are found to be some of the riskiest drivers on the roadway and thus their premiums reflect the risk that the car insurer is taking on by insuring inexperienced drivers.

Some insurance companies may give discounts or a reduction in rates based on lifestyle events that they believe signal greater maturity, such as getting married and having children. Thus if you are a parent this would give you a reduction in rate with some auto insurers.

If you are recently married or just had baby that you transport in your vehicle, or are expecting one soon, speak to your insurance agent and see if a rate reduction is available with your insurance carrier because of having the marriage or baby.

If your rates are not discounted, you may want to shop around with other insurance companies to see if you can reduce your rates. Or if you married someone with a bad driving record that has caused your rates to increase, instead of decrease, you also should shop around to make sure you are getting the best rates possible.

You can start your comparison shopping for affordable auto insurance here with us.

You can read in our learning center the article titled Factors That Affect Your Car Insurance Premiums that gives information on what insurance companies generally use to determine auto insurance rates.