Practically every month, I field the aforementioned question from the Auto Insurance buying public in Miami Florida & beyond.  Typically, this sort of query follows a client receiving their auto insurance bill & they are looking to mitigate their costs.  If a driver is not driving the vehicle, why would you need to list them, right?  Let us examine what we can and what we cannot do in an ethical manner.

Firstly, we need to identify what sort of policy we are discussing.  On a Commercial Auto Policy, the Carriers are typically asking for a list of drivers, not a list of employees.  Typically, that is the regular drivers of the vehicles in question.  So, if there are employees of the company, who do not typically drive, they would not need to be listed on a Commercial Auto Policy.  For example, a Real Estate Management Company has a service team that uses vehicles to service the properties they manage; as well has a billing team that does not need to leave the office.  The Billing Team need not be included on the list of drivers, as they do not drive the vehicles.

Personal Auto Policies (for the most part) are quite different.  The question on the application is similar but different.  First, they ask you for all licensed drivers who are members of the household; followed by the vehicle assignment to the listed drivers.  The Carriers feel that if there is a licensed driver member of the household; they can theoretically get behind the wheel (even if it is an irregular activity and just on occasion) & want to charge for those drivers.  They have empirical data showing that,

• Occasional drivers end of getting behind the wheel
• When they do, a higher level of claims develop

As a result, the Carriers need to charge for it.  Finally, if the occasional driver has a clean record, the cost to add them will not be great.  If they do not have a good record, allowing them to be omitted from the application (and not charging for them) would essentially encourage insureds to conveniently not list the drivers in their household most likely to have a claim.

The technology involved in pulling Motor Vehicle Records & CLUE Reports often times will pull family members who may not be associated any longer with you.  Further, if a client is in a multifamily building, it may pull drivers who have never had a relation to you but may have lived in your unit or an adjoining one.  Worse, at times, it will attach losses associated with that location to an individual living there when there might be no connection between the two.

The best strategy is no gimmick.  Simply reviewing the accuracy of your drivers; driver history; & losses with your qualified agent will reduce errors & find the most efficient way to keep your premiums at bay.  We had a client who is a sixty-year-old male named Tony X.  His premiums went crazy and when we reviewed his MVR; we found 2 DUI’s from a seventeen-year-old with the same name Tony X, living in the same zip code.  We petitioned on his behalf, and after much haggling, was able to get the incorrect activity removed.

Call us or Text us at 561-287-6279 to discuss your situation or email me directly at mrovner@rovnerco.com.