Wedding bells mean changes to your insurance

Thousands of couples who postponed their wedding during the early months of the pandemic are now rushing to get married. If that's you, know that a change in marital status and living arrangements also brings changes to your insurance. Here's what you and your spouse need to know:

1. You'll likely qualify for a multi-vehicle discount. 

Few singles maintain more than one car, but once you're married, you'll be combining your two vehicles on one policy.  

2. You may qualify for a new multi-policy discount. 

If you've been living with roommates, marriage means getting a place of your own. Purchase your renter or homeowner policy from PEMCO, and you'll get a multi-policy discount on both your auto and home or renter insurance.  

3. Homeownership qualifies you for additional auto discounts.

If a home purchase is part of your new union, you may benefit on your auto insurance. Many companies, including PEMCO, offer auto discounts for homeowners, because homeownership correlates with lower auto claim frequency. The discount is available even if you don't buy your homeowners policy from PEMCO (and if you do, you'd get it on top of your multi-policy discount). If that new home happens to be closer to your job and you reduce the number of miles you drive overall, you also may qualify for lower rates  

4. Price-wise, two may be better than one, 

particularly for people in their twenties. Marriage correlates with a lower likelihood of auto claims, meaning young people (who are, statistically, a higher risk and pay higher rates) could see their auto premium drop, sometimes significantly. That difference washes out with age since rates gradually decrease once you're past your twenties, meaning that people who marry later tend to see less of a change. 

5. Claim history becomes shared. 

Your driving record and your spouse's will be reflected in your policy premium once you're both on the same policy. That could affect your overall premium relatively little if your driving records are similar – or lead to an increase or decrease, depending on the history your spouse brings. 

6. Don't delay updating your policies.

Marriage can mean an avalanche of administrative changes. While you're probably focused on updating your driver's license, financial accounts and beneficiary/dependent designations for employment benefits, combining your insurance packages also should be high on your post-nuptial to-do list. If your marriage means a significant change in now-shared assets, it's also a good time to consider adding Umbrella liability protection. 

7. Protect wedding jewelry.

 Your PEMCO homeowner or renter policy automatically includes jewelry coverage with a combined value of $5,000 and a limit of $2,500 per item for pieces that are stolen, destroyed in a fire or damaged under other conditions named in the policy. If your wedding set is worth more than that or it pushes the total value of all the jewelry you own to more than $5,000, let us know. PEMCO sells additional per-item coverage based on a price per $100 in appraised value. When you buy coverage for a specific piece of jewelry, there's no deductible if you need to file a claim. Also, that piece will be covered if it's simply lost. Your local PEMCO agent or a representative at 800-GO-PEMCO can go over current pricing to help you decide if buying extra per-item coverage is worth it.  

And, if you find yourself in the opposite situation and are ending a marriage, you'll want to read "How does divorce affect insurance?"