Geico's Money Pile Isn't Watching The Divorced
Natalie separated from her husband and called Geico about separating her car insurance from her soon-to-be ex, but was told the rate would go up quite a bit. She’s feeling discriminated against:
After recently separating from my husband, I called Geico to ask about also separating our car insurance. I was informed that my premiums would go up significantly (which I had expected to some degree since I know insurance companies give reduced rates for multiple cars). When I asked why my premium would pretty much triple in price, I was told that single drivers statistically have more accidents than married drivers.
As someone who is feeling a bit sensitive around this issue (a woman in my late thirties and recently divorced) this felt extremely prejudicial. So, I’m more likely to have an accident today than I was 3 weeks ago when I was still legally married? First of all, is this statistic even true? And second of all, is it legal to discriminate against single people like this?
It’s possible that the rate increase would only happen because Natalie got a bulk discount when her insurance was lumped with that of her husband. But if anyone in the insurance game knows whether divorced people are actually charged more than never-been-marrieds, let us know.
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