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Is a roommate considered a household member?
I am getting car insurance quotes, and one of the companies is asking for the driving information of all the household members. I have a roommate, but he has his own insurance, and I don’t want to add him to mine. Since he lives here, is my roommate a household member?
Shannon Martin · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
Yes, your roommate is considered a household member. But that doesn’t mean they have to be included in your car insurance policy.
Insurance companies want policyholders to provide the necessary information for all household members since the people you live with have constant access to your vehicle. Resident relatives like parents, siblings, and children and household members, like roommates, have what’s called
permissive use
. Permissive use means that they have implied and/or expressed permission to drive your car and have automatic coverage on your insurance policy. Since we are speaking about your roommate, the permission is implied due to access.
If your friend who doesn’t live with you wants to borrow your car, and you say it’s okay, that is expressed permissive use.
Since most insurance policies extend this additional coverage, they need to rate for this risk by including the drivers who have constant access aka household members to your policy.
However, since your roommate has his own active car insurance, your insurance company will not rate him on your policy—meaning he would have coverage for occasional use, but it wouldn’t cost you anything. Your insurance company will still want to gather information like your roommate’s name, date of birth, driver’s license number, and policy number to have on file.
Since you are shopping for a new insurance policy, download
Jerry
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that saves users on average, $800+ per year by finding cheaper car insurance
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Jerry partners with more than 50 insurance companies, but our content is independently researched, written, and fact-checked by our team of editors and agents. We aren’t paid for reviews or other content.
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