Do car insurance rates increase after getting a divorce?

After a divorce, your car insurance rates are likely to change. Whether the rates will go up or down depends on several factors, including the driving history of partners, your credit score, and other personal factors. Yes, your marital status does affect your insurance rates, but it is more complicated after a divorce than it would be after getting married.

For insurance companies, being married is a sign of responsibility and is rewarded with a discount based on your marital status. For example, two 26 year olds who get married will receive lower rates than they had before the marriage. But if they married before they turned 26, and you are now over 26, your rates may not show a dramatic increase.

If you have a perfect driving history but your ex-spouse had a few tickets on his license, your rates may actually go down after the divorce. Since your rates are partially determined by your driving history and credit score, whoever has the higher score and least amount of tickets is probably going to see a decrease in costs while the other partner has to pay higher rates.

During a divorce, one of the partners usually moves to another location. For insurance companies, the Zip Code where you live is going to affect your car insurance rates. This means that if the crime rate is lower in the new location than the old one, that person will get a reduction in base rates. In all, there are more than 20 factors used in determining your insurance rates, so whether or not your premiums will increase after a divorce is going to depend on how the personal data stacks up in your favor. Usually, one driver gets an increase while the other one receives a reduction in costs.