How Does Getting Speeding Tickets Affect Insurance?
Other People Are Reading
-
Driving record
-
These days, no matter what state you may have received a traffic violation, your driving record follows you wherever you go. This means that speeding tickets in California will still be on your record in North Carolina. Speeding tickets stay on your record for several years, and insurance agencies use your driving record along with your age, gender and car to determine what insurance rate they will offer you. Although speeding tickets can stay on your record for several years, there are ways to get them removed in a quicker fashion. Going to traffic school can get a ticket removed from your record upon completion. Beyond traffic school, there is also the ability to contest a speeding ticket in court. Contesting a speeding ticket will keep it from appearing on your record at all.
Raised premiums
-
You are probably asking yourself, "Why do I need to have a clean record for insurance?" The truth of the matter is that having speeding tickets on your record will raise your insurance premiums no matter how long you have been with an insurer. Insurance agencies use your driving record to gauge how much of a risk you will be to cover. The risk is higher based on the infractions that appear on your record. Being a higher risk to cover translates to you paying a higher premium to be insured. What is even worse is that it will not matter who you try to get insurance from; this will always be the case.
-
Getting reinsured
-
Once your insurance has expired, you may be thinking that it will be easier to start over fresh at a new insurance agency that knows nothing about your driving record. The only problem with this is that insurance agencies in the 21st century use a shared informational system from state to state. If you have speeding tickets that are still on your record it won't be difficult to find an insurer; what will be difficult is finding an insurer at a reasonable price. Inevitably it will cost you more money in court fees, ticket costs and insurance by speeding. You may also find that special discounts given to safe drivers with spotless records cannot be offered to you at your insurance agency because of your speeding ticket. So, before you think about cruising above the speed limit, it may be best to slow down and think of the repercussions.
-
Resources
- Photo Credit Picture provided by -MISHA.
