Excluding Someone From Your Policy

Though no one may like to be excluded in life, it may pan out to not have everyone covered by your insurance policy. In life we never like to feel left out, but there are going to be times when you don’t want to include everyone. This can be a positive thing for you, the insured party, and possibly give you a leg up where your insurance premiums are involved. Even though it may feel bad to exclude people from being able to drive your car, it can often be the right decision to make. It’s time to rethink what the social connotations of the word “exclusion” means, and start applying it towards the benefit of your pocketbook. For the person, or persons, in your life that need to be excluded from your policy, they are part of something that is saving you money.

What Is A Named Driver Exclusion?

There are some insurance policies that come with a “named driver exclusion.” What this means is that some individuals may not be allowed to drive your car, because they will not be covered by your insurance. If someone that is excluded happens to drive your vehicle, then your insurance won’t cover your car in the case that the excluded party gets in an accident of any sort.

Usually car insurance works under the principle of permission from the owner of the car. If the insured owner of the car grants permission for someone to drive their car, then the owner’s insurance covers the driver. If you loan your car to a friend, and they happen to get into an accident, then the friend you loaned it to is still covered by your insurance.

If your friend driving has been explicitly excluded on your insurance policy, then the concept of “permissive use” is no longer applicable. Any damage incurred to your vehicle, or to other people’s vehicles, won’t be covered by your insurance. The policyholder and/or driver, will end up being fully responsible for any damages caused to others, and to their own property.

When an insurance company excludes someone, it’s not an arbitrary decision that’s being made. They’ll have found someone in your household that has a poor driving record, and is considered to be an extreme risk, or is possibly too young for them to want to cover. If the aforementioned party does drive your car, then any permissive use isn’t applicable if they get into an accident of any sort. If your vehicle is damaged, then you, the insured, will have to take care of everything.

Why Exclude A Driver?

There are times when the insurance company is going to exclude someone from your policy, and other times when it’s going to benefit you to do the excluding yourself. It can be in your best interest to exclude some family from your insurance policy if having them included is going to raise your premiums exponentially.

Some states have a good-driver discount, which can save a lot of money for you on your premiums. Drivers tend to get at least 20% lower rates if they qualify for the good-driver discount. If someone in your household might cause you to lose that discount, you can often just exclude them from your policy to maintain it.

The exclusionary policy practices will change from state to state, so it’s best to check into it when your looking for auto insurance coverage. There are some people in your household that won’t be allowed to be excluded, possibly your spouse, so read the fine print before assuming it’s possible.

Exclude A Driver And Save

Excluding a driver in your house that has multiple convictions, or is considered a high-risk insurance client, can end up saving you a lot of money. Premiums for the insured are raised by quite a bit once the insurance company realizes the insured’s household has high-risk individuals. If you, as the person seeking insurance, recognize the possible risks ahead of time it may establish an even better working relationship with your insurance company.

Once you exclude a driver from your policy, or are asked to by the insurance company, you may be eligible for discounts to go along with that. It’s worth checking in with your insurance agent to find out what discounts are available for excluding other people. It may be that you have a teenager in the house, and if you exclude them from your policy, your premiums could drop dramatically. There are multiple ways that excluding others from your policy can work in your favor, and all of them should be investigated.

Remember to alert any excluded parties about the fact that they aren’t allowed to drive your car. This will help prevent any possible mishaps from happening by someone you live with taking your car out for even a simple errand. Since most accidents happen only a few blocks from home, it’s even more important that you don’t slip on letting anyone excluded from your policy drive your vehicle. Once you’ve battened down the hatches on everyone excluded being aware that they are, just stick to your same safe driving practices, and enjoy your lower premiums.