HOW MUCH WILL INSURANCE PREMIUM COSTS RISE FOR A TRAFFIC TICKET?
How much does points affect insurance? A recent study of over 490,000 insurance quotes discovered the percentage insurance increase from different traffic ticket convictions. The average results are as follows:
- Careless and Imprudent Driving 22%
- DUI / DWI 19%
- Driving without a Valid License 18%
- Careless Driving 16%
- Failure to Stop 15%
- Speeding 30 or more over 15%
- Improper Turn 14%
- Improper Passing 14%
- Texting While Driving 14%
- Following Too Closely 13%
- Speeding 15 to 29 mph over 12%
- Failure to Yield 9%
- Driving Without Insurance 6%
- Failing to Wear Seat Belt 3%
It is significant to note these insurance price increases are averages, meaning half the drivers convicted of these tickets had insurance rate increases MORE than the listed percentage.
HOW FAST YOU WERE SPEEDING MATTERS
Speeding tickets for faster speeds that appear on your driving record will raise your insurance premium costs more than convictions for lower speeds. Speeding ticket convictions appear on a driving record typically in five mile per hour increments.
For example, a speeding ticket more than fifteen miles per hour over results in a premium increase of twelve percent.
% increase for 11-16 mph over
Kansas = 16% or $224.00
Missouri = 10% or $125.00
% increase for 30 mph or more
Kansas 16% or $224.00
Missouri 11% or $136.00
WHAT FACTORS DO INSURANCE COMPANIES USE TO DETERMINE INSURANCE COSTS?
The amount of money you pay a car insurance company to insure your vehicle is calculated by a number of factors. To start; the insurance company determines what they can know about you; that is, what they can find out about you.
Naturally, insurers cannot follow everyone around to see how and where they drive (yet). So, insurance companies use “epidemiological” data. In other words, insurance companies turn every individual customer into a series of numbers, or factors, add those numbers up, compare them to the general population for paid, at fault accidents, and WHOOSH, you have your vehicle insurance price.
The factors insurance companies use to determine your car insurance price include:
- Driving Record
- Credit Score
- Age
- Gender (sex)
- Zip code – Location
- How Much You Use Your Vehicle
- Vehicle Type
- Vehicle Mileage
- Vehicle Engine Size
- Type of Insurance Coverage You Buy
- Your Deductible Amount
- Whether Your Insurance Coverage has been Continuous
- How you Pay for your Insurance (in full, installments, electronically, with credit card)
- Accident History – Your Fault
- Accident History – Not Your Fault
You cannot control many of these factors. However, some factors you can control. Importantly, these factors are NOT weighed evenly. Some are more important than others.
YOUR DRIVING RECORD DRIVES YOUR INSURANCE COST
The presence of absence of traffic tickets on your driving record is perhaps the single most important factor in pricing your insurance. You can have great control over what is on your driving record (with the help of a traffic lawyer). This allows you great control over what you pay for insurance.
WHY DOES INSURANCE COST MORE AFTER A TRAFFIC TICKET?
Each driver insured on the road is categorized by insurance companies. These companies seek to maximize their profit (the insurance premiums you pay), and minimize their costs (advertising for customers and paying accident claims).
Insurance companies insure hundreds of thousands to millions of drivers. To manage this large number of driver profits and driver risks, insurers categorize people. These categories pair factors known to the insurance company to increase the risk of an accident loss. One of the primary risk factors is poor driving. The way that poor driving becomes known to the insurance company is through the driving record. Thus, drivers who do not hire a traffic lawyer, and are thus convicted of a ticket, place themselves in a higher driving-risk group. That higher risk group pays more for car insurance.
HOW MUCH DO INSURANCE COSTS GO UP AFTER A SPEEDING TICKET CONVICTION?
Another recent study considered quotes from the five states with the highest population. A comparison was made between drivers with a clean record versus drivers with one speeding conviction on their record (6-10 mph over).
The average car insurance policy costs $1,783 per year.
The results are as follows:
Ranking State Average Annual Insurance Rate Increase
1 Illinois $54 more yearly
2 New York $159 more yearly
3 Texas $175 more yearly
4 California $353 more yearly
5 Florida $617 more yearly
NOTE: Insurance costs rise even higher with higher speeds and multiple tickets
MULTIPLE SPEEDING TICKET CONVICTIONS COMPOUND THE ADDED INSURANCE COST INCREASE
Certain insurers have a category known as the “high risk driver.” These are classified on three-year basis. For two speeding tickets, the average increase was 43%, twice the increase of just one ticket.
WHEN WILL YOUR CAR INSURANCE COSTS INCREASE AFTER A TRAFFIC TICKET?
The typical time of an insurance increase is when the car insurance policy renews. That is, when the insurer assesses your risk. Thus, for a driver who “just pays” a speeding ticket, and gets a conviction, it is perhaps wiser to keep their insurance as is, and thus the lower rate, until the policy renews (expires). Some insurers may even keep lower rates for returning customers, though there is no data to support this.
Interesting Note: This study found that car insurance rates rise 22 to 30 percent, on average, after a single speeding ticket conviction.
HOW LONG WILL MY CAR INSURANCE STAY HIGH AFTER A TRAFFIC TICKET CONVICTION?
Most insurance companies raise premium quotes by looking back three years. However, if your insurance costs rise, and you still pay the higher expensive insurance, it is reasonable to expect the insurance company to take your money for as long as it can … so, indefinitely.
SAFE DRIVER DISCOUNT POLICIES ARE ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE
There is another cost factor, other than insurance premium cost increases. You may lose your “safe driver” discount. The average “safe driver” discount is 25%, or $446. Thus, one speeding ticket would result in a rate increase of 34%, or $605.
STATE MANDATED INSURANCE MAY INCREASE COST
State governments mandate coverage for many, if not all drivers. This is to ensure that persons on the road have the ability, should an accident occur, to pay for accident damages. This is to further the state public policy of compensating innocent victims and not making those victims dependent on state assistance.
Various states have enacted laws, such as Missouri’s MVFRL, to mandate this public policy. Such high-risk insurance plans, such as SR-22 plans, are also more expensive.
WHAT COMPANIES OFFER THE CHEAPEST INSURANCE IF I HAVE A SPEEDING TICKET ON MY RECORD?
First speeding ticket insurance matters. The rates of various insurance providers after your first speeding ticket has been discovered. Thus, we know the cheapest car insurance company for speeding ticket convictions.
The 6 top insurers differ in the treatment of a 16-19 over speeding ticket as follows:
- Nationwide = 19%
- AllState = 20%
- Farmer’s = 24%
- State Farm = 27%
- Progressive = 31%
- GEICO = 31%
WHY DOES A SPEEDING TICKET MAKE MY INSURANCE COSTS RISE?
Insurance costs are based upon risk. Risk is calculated by actuaries. Actuaries base their cost estimates on previous behavior that the company has assessed increases the likelihood that the insurance company will have to pay a claim during the insurance period. The riskier you appear; the more you pay for insurance.
The amount you pay for auto insurance (your premium) is based in large part on how risky you appear to the insurer. Insurance companies have a limited number of ways at their disposal to evaluate drivers. The insurer does not know how well you see, how fast your reactions are, your level of wisdom, or your focus. The insurance company does know what type of car you drive, where you live, your claims history, and yes, your driving record.
Insurance company actuaries, whose job it is to calculate risk, have worked out that drivers who have traffic tickets on their driving record are more likely to get into an accident, and more likely to cost the insurance company money. Insurers check driving records periodically. When your record gets worse, you pay more.
SPEEDING TICKET CONVICTIONS DISQUALIFY COST REDUCTIONS
Just paying speeding tickets costs money other than premium cost increases. More experienced drivers often qualify for cost reduction savings from insurance. However, a driving record that shows traffic ticket convictions often eliminates the driver from these insurance saving discounts.
TRAFFIC TICKET CONVICTIONS CAN REDUCE INSURANCE COVERAGE
Insurance companies use different policies for different types of drivers. Some policies are very “pro-driver” and give great accident coverage. Other types of insurance policies are less generous.
Those “bad driver” policies provide less insurance coverage, cover fewer types of accidents, and make claims more difficult to pursue. Thus, getting a traffic ticket on your record may force you to accept lower quality insurance.
WILL A TRAFFIC TICKET FROM ANOTHER STATE RAISE MY INSURANCE PRICE?
Two driver license programs exist in the United States that share driving record information. Those programs are:
- Non-Resident Violator Compact (NRVC)
- Driver License Compact (DLC)
These two programs have been adopted by forty-four of the fifty states, along with the District of Columbia. This means that an out of state traffic ticket conviction will appear on your driving record, unless you are from one of the six non-participating states.
The non-participating states are:
- Alaska
- California
- Michigan
- Montana
- Oregon
- Wisconsin
WHAT TO DO
Shop Around:
Shopping around to various insurance companies can help. Different companies calculate risk differently. Different insurers have different information in their databases. Insurance companies also know it is more expensive to get a new customer than keep one. Changing your insurer can reduce your cost.
Change Your Insurance Coverages:
Increasing the insurance deductible will reduce your premium costs. Studies have found that raising a deductible from $250.00 to $500.00 can reduce insurance premium costs by thirty percent. Dropping property coverage entirely is another option. If your vehicle has high mileage, or is many years old, it may not make financial sense to pay for insurance to repair or replace the vehicle.
Hire a Traffic Ticket Lawyer:
You may also wish to hire a traffic ticket lawyer from your area. The best attorneys can even erase traffic ticket convictions from a driving record. Certainly, the added cost of the attorney’s fee, fines, and court costs will be less than the added insurance cost, over time.
Author:
Matt Hamilton
- Trial Attorney
- Juris Doctor
Citations:
Nancy Dunham of Yahoo Finance, How Much That Traffic Ticket Could Hike Your Insurance Rates – and What to Do About it, June 28, 2017
Carinsurance.com, How much does insurance go up after a speeding ticket? September 19, 2018
Allstate.com, I Got a Speeding Ticket. Will it Affect My Insurance? December 2017
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
National Association of Insurance Commissioners
Insurance Information Institute
NerdWallet, Comparing Auto Insurance Rates After Speeding Tickets, July 10, 2015
Progressive.com, What Impacts Your Car Insurance Price
Progressive.com, Do Speeding Ticket Affect Insurance Rates
Esurance.com, Car Insurance, How long will a moving violation affect my car insurance premium?
Jim Gorzelany, Forbes, Got a Ticket? Here’s How Much your Car Insurance Premiums Will Increase. (May 17, 2012)
Krystal Steinmetz, What a Speeding Ticket Does to Your Car Insurance Rates. April 14, 2016.
Kevin Mercadante, How Much Do Speeding Tickets Affect Your Insurance? September 19, 2017
Methodology: Quadrant information services to field rates from 6 major insurers in 10 zip codes in every state for a 2017 Honda Accord, age 40 with good credit and $500 deductible. Increases are shown as an average from base rate.
