As many states recognize domestic partnerships and civil unions, car insurance companies have also come to recognize that these relationships provide the same motivation for responsibility as marriage; however, as these discounts have become more public, people who are living together but not in a relationship often want to find out if they qualify for these discounts. A roommate relationship is very different from a domestic partnership. Insurance companies realize that many people who live together but who are not in a relationship may attempt to get domestic partner discount auto insurance. For this reason, most insurance companies have very strict standards by which they measure domestic partnerships.

Roommates do not qualify for domestic partner car insurance because they do not have the same commitment to the other person that a domestic partnership or marriage entails.

To help roommates, many insurance companies will offer both drivers insurance on the same policy since they are living at the same address. Living with a roommate and attempting to carry domestic partner car insurance without the relationship is considered fraud and a serious offence by the insurance companies.