Adding a driver

When you need to

• A partner moves in, or you marry
• A child gets a learner's permit or licence — check what your insurer requires at each stage
• A relative moves into your home
• Someone starts driving your car regularly rather than occasionally
• An adult child moves back home

What you'll need

• Their full name, date of birth and licence number
• How long they've been licensed
• Their driving history, including violations and accidents
• Which vehicle they'll mainly drive
• Whether they have their own coverage elsewhere

Keeping the increase down

Do these in the same conversation rather than afterwards. Most of them are only applied on request.

• Assign them to the least expensive vehicle to insure, if your insurer rates by assignment
• Ask about good student discounts, which are commonly available and rarely volunteered
• Ask about driver training or defensive driving course discounts
• Reconsider deductibles across the policy while you're changing it
• Ask what the policy costs with them on it versus a separate policy — sometimes separate is cheaper
• Re-shop the whole policy; the insurer that was cheapest for you alone may not be cheapest for the household

Adding a high-risk driver

If the increase is severe, get the alternatives priced before accepting it — a separate policy in their name, a different insurer for the household, or where genuinely appropriate and permitted, a named driver exclusion.

An exclusion is a serious step with absolute consequences, so price the other options first.

The timing point

Add them before they drive, not after. Coverage disputes arising from an unlisted driver are avoidable, and the call takes minutes.