Second Driver Insurance: Definition
If you buy an insurance policy and you are the only driver on that policy, you are considered a primary driver. Often though, you might want to add a secondary driver to your insurance policy – that can be, for example, your child who got a driver’s license or your spouse who occasionally drives your vehicle.
Adding a secondary driver will increase your insurance premiums, dependent on the age of the secondary driver, their driving history etc. It is a good idea to consider doing this, however, since it will protect you in a number of cases, such as:
If your child gets into an accident and they are not added as a secondary driver, your insurance company could deny your claim.
Second Driver Insurance: Important to consider
Second driver insurance should be chosen only if the person is truly a secondary driver and drives the car only occasionally. Remember that insurance company can always investigate the case and deny the claim coverage if they find out the fraud (e.g. that the secondary driver is actually a primary driver or that a car was used for business although it was only claimed to be used for pleasure).
Secondary driver insurance is not a way to get a cheaper insurance policy for a younger driver. Insurance companies look both at the primary driver and at the number of cars in the household. In addition to that they also look at the number of drivers in the household. In general, it is not permitted to have one primary driver on two cars in the household, if there is another driver in the household. In some cases insurers can allow it, but will require a signed endorsement filed by a parent stating that another driver will not drive the vehicle.
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Please consider that all information mentioned above applies to non-commercial auto insurance. If you are involved into any ride-sharing program and need a proper insurance coverage, you need to look into e.g. Uber driver insurance to make sure that you are covered. Standard car insurance policies do not cover you, even if you are driving others on a part-time basis only.
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