How Divorce Can Affect Your Car Insurance
If you're getting divorced you may wonder how divorce can affect your car insurance. Your car insurance may go up after a divorce. Your auto insurance rates will depend on many factors that may be connected to divorce: relocating or changing vehicles can cause your insurance rates to go up. Your spouse may remove you from the auto policy, though, which could leave you uninsured and at risk without your knowledge during a divorce.
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Eric Stauffer
Licensed Insurance Agent
Eric Stauffer is an insurance agent and banker-turned-consumer advocate. His priority is educating individuals and families about the different types of insurance coverage. He is passionate about helping consumers find the best coverage for their budgets and personal needs. Eric is the CEO of C Street Media, a full-service marketing firm and the co-founder of ProperCents.com, a financial educat...
Licensed Insurance Agent
UPDATED: Nov 2, 2024
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Divorce can be a tragic and painful time in your life. But in the midst of separating your financial assets from those of your (now former) spouse, your auto insurance policy will likely become an issue of contention. After all, combining car insurance after marriage usually lowers rates, so ending a marriage may cause your auto insurance rates to rise.
You should know how divorce can affect your car insurance, and be careful to minimize the impact as much as possible. This is especially true if you two are on the same policy together, or if you have other family members (such as your children) on the family policy as well.
If you need to get a new auto insurance policy, you can use our FREE search tool to find the cheapest car insurance after your divorce.
Divorce will impact every part of your auto insurance:
- Divorce Can Affect Your Car Insurance Policy (being married typically lowers your rates)
- Divorce Can Affect Your Car Insurance Claims (Did you spouse handle the claims? Familiarize yourself with the process)
- Divorce Can Affect Your Car Insurance Company (Your current company may not offer the best policy options for your)
- Divorce Can Affect Your Car Insurance Premium (Your policy premium may increase)
- Divorce Can Affect Your Car Insurance Coverage (Your coverage needs will certainly change)
- Divorce Can Affect Your Car Insurance Rates (Your monthly rates will be affected by everything we mentioned above).
Car Insurance Rates for Divorced Parents – Cutting Financial Ties
Sometimes couples can get lucky and, even though their romantic and legal partnership is at an end, they can remain partners on their car insurance policy. Even amicable divorces can be expensive, and saving at least some money on your automotive insurance policy can help.
But in most cases, divorcing your spouse will leave you looking for your own individual vehicle insurance. Thankfully, however, your divorce is one of the last factors that your new insurance agent will be concerned with when the two of you sit down to underwrite a policy. Your insurance company will first and foremost be concerned with:
- Total miles driven annually – the more time you spend on the road, the more likely accidents will become
- Accident History – are you a safe driver? Or have you had several accidents in recent years?
- How long you’ve been driving – more driving experience means less risk of accidents
- Credit Score – are you as responsible behind the wheel as you are paying your bills?
Auto Insurance for Divorced Spouses – Covering Your Bases
If you are the one moving out of your family home, then your auto policy will depend greatly on whether or not your current policy will be in the same zip code as your new policy. And you can use our handy quote generator below to find out which zip codes near you offer lower car insurance rates for divorced women online.
Moving to a zip code with low crime rates (especially reported theft) or less traffic — or both — will definitely help you find a lower monthly premium. Even something as seemingly unimportant as parking your car in a garage at night could help lower your rates. But if you’re forced to park your car curbside every evening, then your premiums might actually go up.
It’s important to get your new automotive insurance coverage as quickly as you can. This is especially true if your divorce is less than diplomatic. If your coverage is canceled unexpectedly, and if your spouse fails to inform you, this could lead to many negative consequences. You could get caught driving without insurance (which is illegal), you could be financially penalized with higher premiums on your next policy for not maintaining coverage, or your application for coverage could be rejected completely for the exact same reason.
Don’t let yourself be left vulnerable to the pitfalls of car insurance for divorced motorists. Talk with your spouse (or have legal counsel intervene on your behalf) to find out how your joint policy will be handled. If you are leaving a family policy, be sure to get your vehicle insured as soon as possible. And compare automotive insurance rates in your current or future zip code today here at AutoInsuranceEZ.com!