Does an additional driver change the price of insurance?

Are you going to take out insurance and want to know what factors influence the price of protection? Well, the inclusion of an additional driver and the type of use of the car are just some aspects evaluated by the insurance company.

Including an additional driver in your insurance is something that will increase your price. Even so, it is something fundamental.

Especially because, when taking out insurance, you need to inform the insurer of everything. Otherwise, the insured runs the risk of having problems later.

We talk about all of this throughout the text. Keep reading!

Who is the additional driver on the insurance?

A car always has a main driver. In other words, the driver who uses the vehicle the most. This user must be indicated to the insurance company, so that it can consider your profile when quoting insurance.

But the main driver may not be the only one driving the car. In fact, it is also common for there to be additional drivers on the insurance.

An additional driver is nothing more than a driver who uses the insured car frequently. Not as much as the main driver, but getting close.

It needs to be indicated in the insurance policy. Only in this way will the insurance company guarantee that the car is covered after an accident.

You can add as many additional drivers to your policy as you think necessary. In fact, the ideal is for everyone who actually uses the car frequently to be included in the contract.

But one point is worth highlighting. If you sometimes lend your car to a friend or relative, that individual does not need to be on the policy.

He won't be a frequent driver, you know? He will only be an occasional driver, who may sometimes use the car.

If an accident occurs and that occasional driver is behind the wheel, you will not have any problems. You will only need to explain to the insurance company that you loaned the vehicle for a moment.

Of course, the accident will only guarantee compensation if the insurance company's rules are followed. Driving while drunk, for example, is against the law, and exempts the insurance company from paying for any losses.

Not to mention that the loss must be covered in the policy. If you don't have collision coverage, for example, and you suffer a collision, you'll have to pay for the loss yourself. After all, the insurance company will not pay any compensation.

Other factors that define the price of insurance

When quoting car insurance, the insurer evaluates the profile of the driver and the vehicle. The price is determined based on information such as age, driver's license length and gender.

Basically, the longer the driver's license has been, the cheaper he will pay for insurance. After all, experience behind the wheel usually guarantees more prudence and less risk of accidents.

Females also pay less for car insurance. This is because women are less involved in accidents.

This risk profile is considered for both the main drivers and the additional driver. So, the price of insurance may change a lot depending on who appears on the policy.

For example: if everyone on the policy, main and additional driver, are men, the insurance price will be A. If one of the men is older and the other is young, the cost will be B.

Now, if a woman is the main driver, and a man is the additional one, the cost will be C. Normally lower, precisely because the female driver will drive the car more.

Here, it is worth highlighting. Thinking exactly about making insurance cheaper, many policyholders lie to the insurance company. Some male drivers, for example, put their wives as main drivers. But, in fact, they are the drivers who use the car the most.

In this type of situation, protection will actually become cheaper. However, this strategy to pay less can generate several problems later.

This is because, after a claim, insurers check whether the information they have matches reality.

If not (such as when the primary driver is a different person), the company may allege fraud on the part of the user. Then, the compensation will be denied, and the consumer will have to pay for the loss alone.

Why inform the insurance company about the additional driver?

As we explained above, insurance companies evaluate the information they have about the car and its driver after an accident.

When the data does not match reality, compensation may be denied. After all, the insured will have “cheated” when purchasing their protection.

The same goes for when the user lies, or does not inform about the additional driver. So, to avoid problems, you must always include this driver in the policy.