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Written by:
Prachi Singh
Contributing Writer
Prachi is an insurance writer with a master’s degree in business administration. Through her writing, she hopes to help readers make smart and informed decisions about their finances. She loves to travel and write poetry.
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Reviewed by:
Laura Longero
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Executive Editor
Laura is an award-winning editor with experience in content and communications covering auto insurance and personal finance. She has written for several media outlets, including the USA Today Network. She most recently worked in the public sector for the Nevada Department of Transportation.

Question: My daughter needs to buy car insurance, but the companies she has tried so far won’t allow her to because her husband has a lot of tickets, which he owes money on, and has a suspended license. He is also in jail, so he isn’t going to correct the issues anytime soon. She needs reasonably priced insurance for herself in Florida. What can she do?

Answer: Your daughter should look into excluding her husband from her car insurance policy.

Auto insurance companies typically take into account all licensed household drivers when calculating rates, and it appears your daughter’s husband’s issues are causing her to be turned down for auto policies, or obtain reasonable rates.

She needs to take her husband out of the equation.

Insurance companies determine rates based on various rating factors, with a major one being your motor vehicle record.  If it shows that a driver on your policy has multiple traffic violations, then it’s going to raise your rates.  If any of the violations are major offenses, such as reckless driving or DUI, then that will make the rates go even higher.

Thus, a mate who has a bad driving record, let alone a suspended license, can put the whole household into a high risk insurance tier — and the bigger the risk, the higher the car insurance rates.

If your daughter signs a named driver exclusion form with a car insurance company, she will be able to keep her husband from being rated on her car insurance policy as a driver, which, if she has a decent driving record, should bring down her rates substantially.

Not all states allow named driver exclusions for spouses but, luckily for your daughter, Florida permits it.  Since not all auto insurance providers will offer to exclude drivers, she will have to compare insurance companies to find one that will.

No coverage means no coverage. Really.

By signing the exclusion on her spouse, it means that when he gets of jail and comes home, he would be unable to drive the insured car since there would be no auto insurance coverage extended to him.  If he drove the car while excluded and was in an accident, the couple would be held personally responsible for all the damages they caused. 

If he returns home and gets his license back, then she will need terminate the exclusion and add him to the policy as a driver.  This will of course raise their rates again due the high risk he poses to insurance providers.  Also, if he must obtain an SR-22 to get his license back, they will need to find a car insurance company that will file this with the state on his behalf.

— Penny Gusner contributed to this story.

Laura Longero

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Laura Longero

Executive Editor

Laura is an award-winning editor with experience in content and communications covering auto insurance and personal finance. She has written for several media outlets, including the USA Today Network. She most recently worked in the public sector for the Nevada Department of Transportation.

John McCormick

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John McCormick

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John is the editorial director for CarInsurance.com, Insurance.com and Insure.com. Before joining QuinStreet, John was a deputy editor at The Wall Street Journal and had been an editor and reporter at a number of other media outlets where he covered insurance, personal finance, and technology.

Leslie Kasperowicz

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Leslie Kasperowicz

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Leslie Kasperowicz is an insurance educator and content creation professional with nearly two decades of experience first directly in the insurance industry at Farmers Insurance and then as a writer, researcher, and educator for insurance shoppers writing for sites like ExpertInsuranceReviews.com and InsuranceHotline.com and managing content, now at CarInsurance.com.

Nupur Gambhir

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Nupur Gambhir

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Nupur Gambhir is a content editor and licensed life, health, and disability insurance expert. She has extensive experience bringing brands to life and has built award-nominated campaigns for travel and tech. Her insurance expertise has been featured in Bloomberg News, Forbes Advisor, CNET, Fortune, Slate, Real Simple, Lifehacker, The Financial Gym, and the end-of-life planning service.

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Contributing Writer

Prachi is an insurance writer with a master’s degree in business administration. Through her writing, she hopes to help readers make smart and informed decisions about their finances. She loves to travel and write poetry.