Getting married leads to significantly cheaper car insurance premiums.
It's hardly a reason for getting hitched, but there's a clear benefit to matrimony when it comes to your car insurance.
"Getting married definitely decreases the rate of insurance you have to pay," said Laura Adams, an insurance analyst at Insurancequotes.com.
The decrease can be huge. A recent study from InsuranceQuotes.com found a single, 20-year-old driver will pay 21 percent more than his or her married counterpart for the same auto insurance coverage.
Even if a person is over 30 years old, he or she will pay less if he or she gets married.
"It may only be 3 percent or 5 percent, but hey, I'll take it," Adams said. "That's a savings nonetheless."
Why would it matter if a driver is married or not? Isn't it just discrimination to charge unmarried people more?
"There really is a lot of controversy over the type of factors the companies are looking at," Adams said.
Controversy or not, Adams said it's all about the cold, hard numbers, and those numbers show married drivers get fewer tickets and get into fewer crashes than their single counterparts.
There is no definitive reason for it. Some experts theorize couples simply drive less than single people. Others say married drivers lead less risky lives than singles.
"My gut tells me they're just more cautious," Adams said. "Maybe they have a child in the car with them; they're thinking a little bit differently about the way they drive."
While it may not seem fair, Adams said insurance companies have to bring in enough premiums to actually cover the claims.
"We can't control our age, gender, right? May not be able to control whether or not we're married, but we certainly can control things like the car we drive," she said. "Driving a more expensive vehicle is going to cause our rate to go up."
It's hardly a reason for getting hitched, but there's a clear benefit to matrimony when it comes to your car insurance.
"Getting married definitely decreases the rate of insurance you have to pay," said Laura Adams, an insurance analyst at Insurancequotes.com.
The decrease can be huge. A recent study from InsuranceQuotes.com found a single, 20-year-old driver will pay 21 percent more than his or her married counterpart for the same auto insurance coverage.
Even if a person is over 30 years old, he or she will pay less if he or she gets married.
"It may only be 3 percent or 5 percent, but hey, I'll take it," Adams said. "That's a savings nonetheless."
Why would it matter if a driver is married or not? Isn't it just discrimination to charge unmarried people more?
"There really is a lot of controversy over the type of factors the companies are looking at," Adams said.
Controversy or not, Adams said it's all about the cold, hard numbers, and those numbers show married drivers get fewer tickets and get into fewer crashes than their single counterparts.
There is no definitive reason for it. Some experts theorize couples simply drive less than single people. Others say married drivers lead less risky lives than singles.
"My gut tells me they're just more cautious," Adams said. "Maybe they have a child in the car with them; they're thinking a little bit differently about the way they drive."
While it may not seem fair, Adams said insurance companies have to bring in enough premiums to actually cover the claims.
"We can't control our age, gender, right? May not be able to control whether or not we're married, but we certainly can control things like the car we drive," she said. "Driving a more expensive vehicle is going to cause our rate to go up."
