Adding someone to your car insurance policy as a driver is not a decision to be taken lightly. It can have a heavy effect on your credit and your car insurance premiums. It is also important to note that not everyone can be covered under your car insurance.
Covered Drivers
You don’t necessarily need to name a person on your policy in order for them to be covered. As a rule, anyone who has permission to drive your vehicle should be covered under your car insurance policy. This means that if you let a friend borrow your car, they should be covered.
Drivers you wish to name on your policy must generally be family members living in the same household as you, including spouses and children. For example, say you and your mother share a vehicle to commute to work and the store. Since you both use the vehicle an equal amount, you will want both of your names on the vehicle.
Another example would be if your teen driver begins sharing your vehicle as their first car. In some cases, it may be cheaper to add them to your policy than to place them on a separate one. Keep in mind that this will still affect your car insurance rates. Adding someone else to your policy can raise your lower your rates. In general, adding a teenage driver to your policy will drive up your car insurance premiums by a significant amount.
This also means that not everyone can be named on your policy, however.
Uncovered Drivers
In some cases, drivers are not covered, nor can they be added to your car insurance policy.
As a rule, you cannot add people who are not part of your household. For example, if you frequently let a friend borrow your car but do not live with them, it is unlikely that an insurer will allow you to add them to your car insurance policy.
There are also excluded drivers to consider. Excluded drivers can be drivers who live in the same household as you but are still not covered under your car insurance. Typically, an insurer will evaluate the other drivers in the home with you and provide names of excluded drivers (if applicable). Excluded drivers are usually high-risk drivers with poor driving records or credit scores. If they are given permission to operate your vehicle, they will not be covered under your car insurance policy.
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