My wife hasn’t been driving much because of health problems. A year ago, she caused an accident that totaled both our car and another driver’s car. Thankfully, we have GEICO and accident forgiveness, so everything was covered, and our rates didn’t increase. It’s been a year since then with no issues, but tonight she was in another minor accident, which was her fault. We’ve decided she shouldn’t drive anymore.
We’re about to call GEICO to report the accident. When should we mention that we’re planning to take her off the policy? Is there a way to remove her without my rate going up since I’ll be the only driver?
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Since she’s your spouse, shares the same residence, and is licensed, most insurance companies will likely require her to be included on the policy. Is she planning to keep her license or surrender it? You may have the option to exclude her as a driver, but that would involve signing a driver exclusion form. She would still be listed on the policy, but wouldn’t be permitted to drive any of the vehicles.
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We can have her surrender her license if that would be helpful, but I’ll ask about the driver exclusion form first. Thank you.
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She will need to surrender her driver’s license to the DMV. If she is a licensed driver in your household, she will be included on the insurance.
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Incorrect. He can designate her as an excluded driver.
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Keep in mind, if she gets into an accident while driving, there’s likely to be no coverage; whether it’s for your vehicle or the other party.
It doesn’t matter if she “almost never” drives, was just going around the block, or even if it was a life-or-death emergency requiring her to drive.
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Yes, we’ve agreed that she will stop driving completely. She has never driven without insurance, and she never will.
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The only realistic way to remove her from the policy is to request that she be excluded as a driver. However, as others have mentioned, this means she would have no coverage whatsoever, even in emergencies, if she drives any vehicle listed on the policy.
It’s also important to note that excluding a driver can still impact your rates, and it doesn’t always lead to a decrease. Sometimes, it disrupts the driver-to-vehicle ratio, or the underwriting process just factors it in unpredictably.
For instance, when my partner and I split up, I removed his vehicle, which lowered my rates as expected. But later, when I excluded him as a driver, I thought my rates would drop further, yet they actually increased. I hadn’t changed anything else; marital status, garaging address, nothing; just the exclusion. It was baffling because he had multiple accidents (some not his fault), a speeding ticket, and still, excluding him raised my rates.
So, before you exclude her, make sure to get a quote on what your new rate would be. You don’t want to go through the process only to find it more expensive, like I did.
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That’s really interesting. I’ll reach out to my agent and explore the available options.
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Remove her from the insurance policy and designate her as an excluded driver. This way, the insurance won’t be liable for any accidents she causes, which the company will readily agree to.
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She won’t be causing any accidents since she won’t be behind the wheel. I’ll definitely discuss this option with them.
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Depending on the state, if she is in your household and is your wife, it will be challenging.
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We are located in Illinois.
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I wanted to take a moment to commend your wife for making such a wise decision. My dad also chose to stop driving voluntarily after a few minor accidents that shouldn’t have occurred. We didn’t make a fuss about it; we all agreed that someone would always be available to take him wherever he needed to go. He’s mainly a homebody, and since my mom drives, it’s not an issue.