In the Summer of 2011, New York State became the eighth state to recognize same-sex marriages. As a result, two of the biggest insurance companies will be giving a discount on auto insurance premiums to same-sex married couples. The discount will be the same as what opposite-sex married couples currently receive.
There are eight states that currently recognize the marriages of same-sex couples. These states are: Connecticut, District of Columbia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. California currently recognizes some marriages that have already occurred between couples of the same-sex, (but will not allow new same-sex marriages to be preformed at this time).
The word “marriage” means a lot to insurance companies. When a couple becomes legally married, it opens up a lot of insurance options that the couple was not eligible for before they “tied the knot”. Once you get married, you can put your spouse on your employee sponsored health insurance. You can be the beneficiary of your spouse’s life insurance policy without any questions being asked.
People who are married can add their spouse to their auto insurance policy, (which usually results in a discount in the premiums). Now that several states have decided to legally recognize same-sex marriage, the privileges that had previously only been extended to married couples of the opposite-sex can now be extended to married couples who are of the same-sex as well.
The way insurance companies see it, people who are married are going to be safer drivers than people who are single will be. Married people, statistically, get into less accidents than single people do. The underwriters for insurance companies don’t really care if a person is married to someone who is of the opposite sex as they are, or if they are married to a person who is of the same sex as they are. In actuarial terms, “marriage” is “marriage”.
State Farm and Allstate, two of the largest insurance companies in the United States that sell auto insurance policies, have decided to give the equivalent reduced rate to same-sex married couples as they are currently offering to married couples who are of the opposite-sex.
They will offer this in states that recognize same-sex marriage as well as in the states that have approved civil unions or domestic partnerships of same-sex couples. Basically, if the state requires a couple to register in some way in order to receive spousal rights, then these insurance companies will offer the typical “married couple” discount for auto insurance.
Esurance, a smaller auto insurance company, that is online, will also do something similar. This company will offer a reduced rate for same-sex married couples in California, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington. They will get the same 10% discount on their auto insurance that opposite-sex married couples are currently getting.
Image by Jeremy Bronson on Flickr