Your car insurance company is charging you a “widow’s penalty”
Yes. You read that right.
When your husband passed away, you no doubt took on the grueling task of changing bank accounts, cancelling credit cards, cancelling gym memberships, and the like. Imagine your shock and horror when, after reporting the death of your husband to your car insurance company, you see your car insurance premium being INCREASED instead of reduced.
And not by a small amount either! On average, you will see a 14% increase! Some widows have seen as much as a 200% increase!
Wait, what?
There’s one less driver and one less car on the road.
What gives?
The shameful and short explanation for the “widow penalty” is this: Unmarried drivers are, allegedly, statistically riskier drivers.
I know what you’re thinking.
Why are you being clumped into the same category as, say, a Fast and Furious obsessed teenage boy with a tricked out ride who is also “single”?
Another short explanation: The insurance companies can do what they want and make their own rules.
But here’s where it gets tricky.
These rate differences due to ‘single’ status are not the only reason auto premiums change when a spouse dies. If a couple is on the same policy, their insurance costs are determined by their combined driving records. If one spouse dies, the premium will change to reflect the risk of the driver remaining on the policy. If that driver has a better driving record then maybe the premium goes down. But not likely. If that driver has a worse driving record with more accident claims, the premium will go up even more.
Also, if your insurance is bundled, say life and auto, families usually get a discount. If one of those policies goes away, like a life insurance payout after a spouse dies, that discount may go away as well.
The bottom line is: You have to make changes to your auto insurance policy, therefore your rates will change.
And no thanks to this ‘widow’s penalty’, don’t be shocked to see your bill go up.
What can you do about it?
At the time of this writing, State Farm is the ONLY insurance company that does not consider marital status when setting premiums.
So, your options are:
Say buh-bye to your current car insurance carrier. Switch to State Farm.
or
COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN to your current insurance company. Don’t hold back! Be that annoying customer!
Call them out on this BS and see if they will be flexible with you and keep your lower rate.
As they should.
