Car Insurance Premium – It’s important to understand that the way you drive and your driving history will affect the car insurance quotes and your car insurance premium. In most states, the motor vehicles department has a grading or a point system that is awarded to all the drivers that are listed. This is used to track the various driving violations as well as the accidents that you may have.
Your driving record affects the car insurance premiums
The car insurance company will order for a copy of your driving record when you purchase the policy or when your policy is due for renewal. This will indicate a decrease or increase in your annual car insurance premium and quote.
Only moving violations affect the driving record that you have. Parking tickets constitute non-moving violations and have no impact on your driving record.
Again each car insurance company has its own system of grading or points. This in turn affects the car insurance quotes that are given by the various insurance companies. If you tend to have a negative driving record, then your insurance premium would rise.
Your spouse’s driving records affect the car insurance premium rates
If your spouse or another family member mentioned in the car insurance policy has a bad driving record, then its bound to affect the car insurance premium rates. In fact the car insurance premium rates will go up.
Insurance carriers quote lower crates for those that are married than those that aren’t. This means that there is some positive effect on the car insurance premium even if your spouse is a bad driver.
In some states, your spouse can take road safety tests and this can bring your insurance rates down. Further more with the combined income, you could opt for higher deductibles and keep your insurance premium down. If your spouse is a bad driver, then get them to use the public transport and get the discount for low mileage on your car insurance policy.
But if all these tactics don’t work out for you and you are affected by high insurance premiums due to the bad driving record of your spouse, use a “named driver exclusion” from the policy. This means that your spouse would be excluded from the insurance policy and wouldn’t be covered under the insurance policy to drive your car.
Car insurance for your spouse
However you can purchase a separate car insurance policy for your spouse in this case. If the car driven by your spouse is an old car, then the collision coverage and the gap insurance policies need not be taken.