Will my spouse, or myself, get the best rate for insuring our shared car?

I am 76 and my wife is 75. We both have clean driving records. We share one car, but insurers always want a 'primary' driver. Since we both drive the car, will it matter which one of us is the primary on our insurance policy?

This is an excellent question! Insurance is very complex, so trying to find the best rate can be a challenge. In this instance with both you and your wife having clean records and being close in age, the rate shouldn't be too much different if you were to switch out who the primary driver is on your shared vehicle. If you're wondering about rates by gender, keep in mind there is a difference in cost between male and female drivers, but it is fairly minimal. The best thing to do would be to contact your insurance carrier and ask if making that change would impact your rate.

Sometimes having the spouse with better credit listed as the named insured can potentially impact your rate. The difference that a driver with poor credit and one with excellent credit pay per year can be much more than you might expect — upwards of $1,000 per year. Most insurance companies use credit rating as a factor for your premiums. Certain states, such as California, do not allow credit as a factor, but since you're in Minnesota it will likely hold a fair amount of weight.

'Named insured' is just a fancy term for whose name is listed first on the policy. For more information about changing this on your current policy, you should also be able to call your insurance carrier to see if making a change will impact your rate. However, to change the primary named insured, most insurance companies will make you write a completely new policy. Even though this might seem like a lot of extra work, in the long run it could save you money. You can also call our agency to get a personalized quote for you at 888-444-8949 or you can get a quote online through www.TheZebra.com.