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California Moves to Eliminate Marital Status as a Rating Factor in Auto Insurance

By Susan Meyer

Updated October 2, 2026

Reviewed By Beth Swanson

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Why is marital status a rating factor?
Why is it changing?
Personal rating factors disallowed in California

Single People Pay More

Did you know that your marital status can factor into how much you pay for car insurance? It’s not a huge differentiator the way other personal rating factors like your age or credit score are, but it’s true: your relationship status is a factor.

However, not every state thinks it should be. In September 2026, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara introduced proposed regulations to eliminate marital status as a rating factor for auto insurance in the state.^[1] The law aims to end a decades-old industry practice where unmarried, divorced, or widowed drivers routinely pay higher insurance rates than married drivers with identical driving records.

Here’s what California drivers should know.

Why Was Marital Status Used as a Rating Factor in the First Place?

For roughly 30 years, California allowed insurance companies to use whether or not a person was married as a factor when pricing their premiums. Currently, there's around a 10% difference on average between married and divorced or single drivers in California. Under Proposition 103 (passed by California voters in 1988), auto insurance rates must primarily depend on three mandatory factors:

Driving safety record
Annual miles driven
Years of driving experience

However, Prop 103 also allowed the Department of Insurance to approve optional rating factors if an insurer could demonstrate a "substantial relationship to the risk of loss." In 1996, regulators officially added marital status as one of those approved personal rating factors.^[2]

This was allowed because insurance companies could show a correlation between single, divorced, and widowed drivers and higher claims incidence. Married individuals generally drove fewer late-night hours and had less risky driving behavior. This data was enough to meet the bar of "substantial relationship to risk," so insurance companies were allowed to consider it.

Why Is it Changing Now?

The decision to eliminate martial status as a rating factor in California stems from a court case Ison V. Lara.

In July 2026, the California Court of Appeal issued a ruling in Ison V. Lara. The lawsuit questioned whether continuing to allow marital status as a rating factor violated California's anti-discrimination laws—specifically the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which protects against discrimination based on marital status.^[3]While the court ultimately upheld that the regulation was legally valid at the time it was made, the decision affirmed the Insurance Commissioner’s explicit statutory authority to add, modify, or repeal optional rating factors under Proposition 103.

Following the ruling, Commissioner Lara decided to use that affirmed authority to move forward with banning the factor. TThe goal is to focus insurance rates on driving, not on personal rating factors, which California has banned in the past (see more info on that below). The changing law is meant to make it more fair for all California drivers, and not penalize single ones.

What Other Personal Rating Factors Aren't Allowed in California?

California maintains some of the strictest laws around what can factor into insurance rate setting in the United States. Over the years, state regulators have systematically removed personal rating factors from the pricing equation to align with Proposition 103 and state anti-discrimination statutes.

Among the personal factors auto insurers cannot use to determine premiums in California:

Prohibited Rating Factor	Reason / Context
Gender / Sex	Banned in 2019 under the Gender Tax Repeal Act regulations, ensuring drivers are not charged differently based on gender identity.
Credit Score / Credit History	Prohibited under Prop 103; insurers cannot use credit-based insurance scores to price policies or refuse coverage.
Education Level	Regulators eliminated the practice of giving group rate discounts based solely on attaining a college degree.
Occupation / Employment Status	Discounting or surcharging based strictly on job title or white-collar vs. blue-collar status has been heavily restricted and banned for individual risk profiling.
Zip Code / Location (as a Primary Factor)	Territorial routing is heavily restricted. Location can only be evaluated after mandatory driving factors are applied, preventing redlining practices.

What this Means for California Drivers

The regulatory proposal to ban marital status is moving through California’s formal administrative rulemaking process and is targeted for full implementation. The law is expected to go into effect on October 25, 2026.^[4]

Once finalized, insurers operating in California will have to recalculate their rating plans, ensuring that every driver's premium is evaluated solely on driving safety, annual mileage, experience, and other non-discriminatory risk indicators. These new plans will need to be filed by July of 2027.

Sources

Commissioner Lara proposes ending use of marital status in California auto insurance rates. [California Department of Insurance]

Commissioner Lara proposes ending use of marital status in California auto insurance rates. [California Department of Insurance]
Proposition 103. [California Legislative Information]

Proposition 103. [California Legislative Information]
Ison. v. Lara. [Justia U.S. Law]

Ison. v. Lara. [Justia U.S. Law]
California Regulator Moves to End Marital Status as Auto Insurance Rating Factor. [Program Business]

California Regulator Moves to End Marital Status as Auto Insurance Rating Factor. [Program Business]