In Australia, adding a 71-year-old father to a car policy cut one driver's bill by $220

A Western Australian motorist says adding one extra name to a car insurance quote made a notable difference.

When their 71-year-old father was included on the policy, the price came down by over a couple hundred bucks. That revelation prompted them to hit up the r/AusFinance subreddit for answers on the rationale.

Here's what to know

According to a Reddit thread started by the 40-year-old poster, an RAC WA quote changed from $1,556 to $1,336 once their father was added as an extra driver.

They said this wasn't new for them. The same step had usually trimmed about $50 to $100 off the cost, and "It is across other insurers too, not just RAC." The larger savings were unexpected.

A common theory in the replies was that insurers may spread risk across everyone named on the policy instead of basing the price entirely on the primary driver.

"If you're the only driver, it's your risk rating x 100%," a user wrote. "If you have an additional driver, they are figuring they are driving the car at least some of the time, and you aren't. Grossly oversimplified, it's your risk rating x 80% plus their risk rating x 20%."

A separate reply suggested the father could be viewed as "a lower risk driver," with the insurer then assuming he would use the vehicle for part of the time.

Another user said they had run into a comparable result while pricing insurance for a new Geely EX5. They said the first quote used only their wife's details, but once they added themselves, the premium fell by roughly $50, even though both drivers were around 40 and had clean driving histories.

More background

On a premium of $1,556, a $220 reduction is about 14%, and the poster said they have seen the same kind of result repeatedly.

Others in the thread said the effect was familiar. One commenter recalled that adding their mother to a comprehensive policy reduced the cost by "about 25-30%" and "saved myself $1000s over about 5 years."

One user also suggested that being perceived as a "dutiful child" could influence the insurer to trust a driver more. Alternatively, they suggested the "boomer who wrote the code" might be rewarding the original poster for looking after someone their age.

Taken together, the replies pointed to something broader than one oddball quote. For customers, insurance pricing can be difficult to make sense of when factors such as age, gender, living arrangements, and expected car usage may all feed into the final figure.

What can be done?

For the original poster, the savings seemed like a great outcome, regardless of the exact justification.