What is multi-car insurance and who needs it?

If you have more than one vehicle in your home, multi-car insurance may be a good option.

With this coverage, you can put multiple vehicles on the same policy. Multi-car insurance has numerous benefits and may be an ideal fit for your situation if you live in a household with more than one vehicle.

• What is multi-car insurance?
• Pros of multi-car insurance
• Cons of multi-car insurance
• Which car insurance companies offer the biggest multi-car discounts?
• How to get a multi-car insurance quote
• What coverage do you need on your multi-car policy?

What is multi-car insurance?

Multi-car insurance means having more than one vehicle on a single car insurance policy.

Several insurers offer multi-car coverage, which can provide savings that reduce the cost of your car insurance premium. Many insurers offer significant discounts with their multi-car policies.

Specific rules apply to multi-car insurance. These rules vary from one insurer to the next.

With most insurance companies, all the vehicles on a multi-car policy must be kept at the same address. For example, Progressive allows you to add a spouse, family member or roommate to your policy if all the cars on the policy are housed at the same address.

Pros of multi-car insurance

Multi-car insurance has certain advantages.

• It’s streamlined and convenient: Maintaining separate policies for your vehicles requires separate bills, payments and renewal dates. With multi-car insurance, a single policy covers your cars. That means there’s a single bill, a single payment, and a single renewal date. There’s less paperwork to deal with and less time spent handling your insurance coverage.
• It may allow you to pay a single deductible: Depending on your insurer and coverage options, you may only need to pay one deductible if multiple cars on the same policy suffer a loss in the same incident. For example, if you have two vehicles that suffered damage in the same storm, a multi-car policy may allow you to pay just one deductible when making a claim.
• It may provide access to stacked insurance coverage: Stacked insurance allows you to combine coverage limits for more than one vehicle. It usually applies to underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage. For example, let’s say you have two vehicles on your multi-car policy, each with an uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage limit of $30,000. With stacking, you’d be able to combine those limits and increase your coverage on each car to $60,000.

Cons of multi-car insurance

There are some drawbacks to consider with multi-car insurance.

• It may result in higher rates after a claim: If you share a policy with someone and that person files a claim, it could cause an increase in the premium. For example, say you share a policy with your partner. If your partner has an accident and files a claim, your coverage premium may increase.
• It may make you ineligible for specific discounts: If you share a multi-car policy with someone, you both must be eligible to qualify for specific discounts. For example, if you have a clean driving record, you may qualify for a good driver discount if the policy is in your name only. But if you share multi-car coverage with a driver whose record is blemished, you may lose eligibility for the discounted pricing given to policyholders with spotless driving histories.

Which car insurance companies offer the biggest multi-car discounts?

Here are some of the insurance companies offering the most significant car insurance discounts for multi-car policies.

• Direct Auto Insurance — Direct Auto Insurance offers excellent discounts for multi-car coverage. With this insurer, you may be eligible for a discount of up to 25% if you choose a multi-car policy. Direct Auto also offers discounts for safe drivers, senior citizens, military service members, good students and those with driver education training.
• Geico — Geico is a top choice if you want to save money with a multi-car policy. If you insure more than one car with this insurer, you could get a discount of up to 25% on your premium. Geico also offers discounts for federal employees, military service members and good drivers. Additionally, this insurer provides various customer loyalty, vehicle equipment and driver affiliation discounts.
• Amica — Amica is based in Rhode Island and provides auto insurance in certain states. This company offers up to a 25% discount if you opt for multi-car insurance. Amica also offers loyalty and homeownership discounts.

How to get a multi-car insurance quote

You can get a multi-car insurance quote online. You may need to provide the information listed below for each driver on your policy:

• Social Security number
• Driver’s license number
• Driving distance to work
• Accidents, claims and driving violations in the past five years
• Make, model and year of each vehicle you want to insure

You can also get a quote by calling an agent directly.

You’ll need to share information regarding all the drivers on the policy. As a result, some planning ahead on your part may be necessary to make sure you have access to all the info you’ll need to share.

What coverage do you need on your multi-car policy?

Single-car and multi-car policies are subject to the same minimum coverage requirements. These minimum coverages are required by law and vary from state to state. Almost all states require liability insurance, so this will likely be part of your multi-car coverage. This coverage pays for damage you cause in a car accident.