Auto insurance question..Adding Wife to Existing policy?

[eblend]

Hey guys,

Quick question. Do I have to call my insurance company and tell them that my wife might be a driver as well, or is that automatically assumed and she would also be insured?

She will drive only a few times a month to work, so trying to see if I need to call it in.

[colsankey]

My insurance company required my wife's information as soon as we lived together, as did hers for myself, but they may not all be the same.

However, I would never assume anything about your insurance company covering you, that's just setting yourself up for expensive 1st world problems.

[masoncgy]

My insurance dropped when my wife & I combined on the same policy so you might want to look into it.

I don't think she can just drive the car without being added, not sure though.

[kenny]

She'll be able to drive the car without being added. Vehicles are still insured when borrowed. However, things will get complicated if your wife is ever in an accident and you would run the risk of them not covering damages if they find out your wife drove your car on a regular basis.

Advice: Add her to the policy, as masoncgy says it may even lower your monthly payments.

[01RedDX]

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[eblend]

Originally posted by 01RedDX
It depends on if the wife is Japanese and may not be covered under the dorifto clause.

lol, okay I will call them up and just add her to the policy, might go up a bit but the fact that it may go down is worth the risk.

Bought an AWD for her, so she won't be able to drift, she is JDM by the way haha, I assume you know that since u mentioned it

[guessboi]

If you have only 1 vehicle in the policy and your wife is over 25. There should be no change to your pricing if she is added as an other driver.

[Zewind]

Originally posted by guessboi
If you have only 1 vehicle in the policy and your wife is over 25. There should be no change to your pricing if she is added as an other driver.

Unless she has a worse driving record. They normally rate for the worse driver. (Unless its just where I used to work)

[Masked Bandit]

OP, what did your broker say about this? They should be able to review your file and let you know one way or the other before pulling the trigger. Chances are though if she has her own vehicle insured elsewhere it won't cost anything to put her on your policy. You should really look at having the two vehicles on the same policy though as you're currently missing out on decent discounts (multi-vehicle) by having them split apart.

[eblend]

We only have one car, she got her Class 5 via a direct transfer of her Japanese license, so she really have no driving history to speak of in Canada.

I know my parents had an issue at some point where my dad had to add my mom to the insurance policy which caused it to go up, simply because my mom had a class 5, but doesn't actually drive at all, but they did have two vehicles, so don't know if that changes things.

[Masked Bandit]

Did she have any kind of insurance in Japan? If so she may be able to get credit for that here.

The other thing to look at is assuming she drives the vehicle once in a while do you really want to be in a situation where she smashes up the car and you're trying to explain to the adjuster why your licensed wife wasn't listed on the policy?

[civicsi]

Definately add her, all drivers within the household should be added to the policy. Your rates will go up slightly but worth it for your wife in the long run. Insurance companies look at driver/insurance history and this will give her that. By doing it this way, in the future if you get another vehicle for your wife, she will have much cheaper rates.
As some other ppl mentioned, if your wife can get a driver experience letter from japan, companies will give full or partial credit depending on the insurance company.

If you guys have more questions regarding insurance feel free to pm me or ask them here. I am a licensed agent, but i cant mention where unless im a sponser i think. lol

[G-ZUS]

When you call them, they will ask you "Is there any licensed drivers in the household that we don't know about?"

[eblend]

Thanks guys. She didn't drive in Japan, just held a license for a long time, so there really isn't any insurance history either. When she got her license covnerted to class 5 here they did require some documents that she never had an accident, but it was more from the police side vs from the insurance company side. She still has that information, so perhaps that would help. I will call them up sometime and check.

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by eblend
Thanks guys. She didn't drive in Japan, just held a license for a long time, so there really isn't any insurance history either. When she got her license covnerted to class 5 here they did require some documents that she never had an accident, but it was more from the police side vs from the insurance company side. She still has that information, so perhaps that would help. I will call them up sometime and check.

The fact that she was licensed in Japan will definitely help. Keep those documents handy!

[clem24]

So why doesn't she just take driving lessons? Would maybe ease your mind too?

In any case just call the insurance company.

[eblend]

So called up meloche monnex (sp?) and they added my wife, however made my premiums jump $36 bucks per month, which seems like alot. They said her japan experience doesn't mean anything to them. Anyone know of a better company?