There can be a difference in automobile insurance premiums depending upon your marital status. 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 recently got married this may give you a reduction in rate with some auto insurers.

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 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. Keep in mind that if two people are now placing both of their vehicles now on one policy they may also receive a multi-car discount.

Factors That Affect Your Car Insurance Premiums is an article in our Learning Center you may find of interest concerning what insurance companies generally use to determine auto insurance rates.