In light of the current economy and the highest inflation rates in decades, every penny can count when it comes to savings. One way that married couples can save not only pennies, but up to hundreds of dollars per year is to do a check and get some quotes on their car insurance. One simple change in the quoting process can lead to significant savings for many couples.
Good Credit Leads To Preferred Auto Rates
We all know that good credit helps you to get the better deals on financing cars, homes and just about everything else, but many people don’t realize that one’s credit rating plays a huge factor in the rates you get on personal insurance such as car and home policies.
Keep in mind that it’s the primary insured’s credit rating that is most crucial to the final premium.
Even though the primary insured is the named as the policyholder, a spouse can be named a co-insured or secondary insured person on the policy and have the same rights under the policy as the primary insured.
Married Couples May Be Eligible To Significantly Reduce Their Auto Premiums
A marriage should be a 50/50 relationship, sharing in responsibilities, affection, finances, and growth. Yet, that each spouse would carry the same exact credit rating seems rather ridiculous. Yes, it does happen, but most of the time credit ratings of spouses differ, and sometimes differ widely.
There are so many scenarios where this divergence may occur and how couples get and stay in policies they are paying too much for.
For example, before marriage the future husband ran into financial difficulties and his credit score was poor when he took out his auto insurance policy. Once married, he adds his wife to his policy even though his wife has excellent credit.
Unfortunately, maybe just an oversight, the couple doesn’t realize that they can get a new quote with the wife as the primary insured and save hundreds per year on a new policy. It’s really as simple as that.
Should Married Couples Get New Quotes?
If both you and your spouse have had recent credit pulls and know your scores it would be wise to get some new car insurance quotes if the one with a low or lower score is the current primary insured.
If you really aren’t sure how your credit ratings stack up against each other, then it’s definitely advisable to check for new rates.
Keep in mind that many insurance agents will not automatically do comparison quotes with both spouses as the primary insured. You should expressly request this and also ask to have both quotes sent to you.
Some people worry if they get too many quotes it will affect their credit scores. Even though insurance companies check your credit during the quote process, they use a type of inquiry called a soft pull that does not show up to lenders. You can get as many quotes as you want and it won’t affect your credit score.
Conclusion
With both auto insurance rates and credit ratings being quite volatile over the past several years it can’t hurt married couples to check their policies to verify the named insured and to get a quote with each spouse as named as primary. The money you save on your NY car insurance can help to offset the higher prices of gas, food, and just about everything else.
If you have any questions regarding auto, home and business insurance options, please contact us, we’re always glad to help. The NY Insurance Hub serves Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Latham, Cohoes, Watervliet, Clifton Park, Saratoga Springs, surrounding Capital Region areas and all of New York State from NYC to Buffalo.