Can I add relatives to my car insurance policy?

What defines someone as a household member?

For insurance purposes, household members include all family members of driving age who are residents at the policy’s address. A person who is not a relative and who is of driving age may also be required to be listed on your policy depending, again, on the state in which you live.

If you do not disclose this information, then you might be in breach of the contract and therefore your claims might not be paid out!

Worst case scenario: the cousin who has a history of DUIs and lives with you takes the car out for a spin and rams it into a tree. If you didn’t list that cousin on your insurance form, the insurance company would have a reason not to pay your claim.

Even worse, the insurance company could force you to sue your own cousin for vehicular theft.

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Do you have to add relatives to your car insurance policy?

The truth of the matter is that any relative, or any other driver in your household, has to be added to your auto insurance policy if they plan on driving the insured vehicle.

There really isn’t a choice in the matter unless you live in those two states (New Hampshire and Wisconsin) that don’t require mandatory liability car insurance.

New Hampshire does not require you to buy a minimum liability policy. Wisconsin also doesn’t require mandatory auto insurance, but you do have to have proof of $60,000 in reserve.

If you don’t reveal everyone within your household, you might be committing insurance fraud.

Read more: Can car insurance companies require information about the people who live with you?

For instance, in order to properly assess your rates, the insurance industry has to know if someone with three DUIs in the last three months is living within your household.

As a general rule, the car insurance company will want to know everyone who lives in your household in order that they may determine risk.

How this works, in theory, is that the more people you have on your policy, the more likely you’ll run into a factor that could raise the cost of the policy.

If you have many drivers or a high-risk driver in your home, then it might be wise to seek out something called an “exclusion” for that one relative. But that one relative would have to have his or her own car and own insurance.

As usual, these rules may vary from state to state. Be certain to check.

Case Studies: Adding Relatives to Your Car Insurance Policy

Case Study 1: Mandatory Inclusion of Relatives

John wants to add his sister, Sarah, to his car insurance policy since she occasionally drives his insured vehicle. He learns that any relative who plans on driving the insured vehicle must be added to the policy. Failure to disclose all household members can lead to potential issues, including insurance fraud.

John understands the importance of providing accurate information to his insurance company and promptly adds Sarah to his policy to ensure proper coverage.

Case Study 2: Excluding High-Risk Relatives

Mary has a cousin, Alex, who has multiple DUIs and lives with her. She is concerned about the impact on her car insurance rates if she adds Alex to her policy. After researching her state’s regulations, Mary discovers that she may be able to exclude a high-risk relative from her coverage.

However, this would require Alex to have his own car and insurance. Mary considers this option as a way to mitigate the potential rate increase.

Case Study 3: Breach of Contract and Denial of Claims

Robert fails to disclose his cousin, Mike, who has a history of driving violations, on his car insurance policy. Unfortunately, Mike gets into an accident while driving Robert’s insured vehicle. When Robert files a claim, the insurance company discovers that he omitted information about a household member with a history of driving violations.

This breach of contract gives the insurance company grounds to deny the claim, leaving Robert responsible for the damages. He realizes the importance of providing complete and accurate information to avoid such consequences.

What happens when you add a driver to your insurance?

There are many factors that determine whether you should add relatives to your policy. These are generally the same factors that affect auto insurance costs generally.

1. One factor is the age of drivers who are under 25 years old.
2. Another factor is if a relative has had tickets or moving violations within the last few years.

Minor misdemeanors, such as parking offenses, do not make a huge difference. However, serious violations, like multiple DUIs, would very likely increase your rate because you would be adding someone who is in a high-risk category. 

If you have a relative in a high-risk category, then you might want to consider excluding this relative from your coverage.

However, excluding a driver is not as easy as it sounds and may require that the person in the household being excluded has his own insurance and car.

For example, in Pennsylvania, you can exclude a family member but that person has to prove that she or he has insurance with another company or is a part of the Commonwealth’s Assigned Risk Plan.

Again, your state may have differing requirements.

Read More:

• Does car insurance cover excluded drivers?
• Does car insurance cover all the drivers in a single home?

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