Whoops...your insurance rates are about to go up.
You see the blue lights flashing in your mirror and, looking down at the speedometer, realize you just blew a speed trap 12 mph over the limit.
If you’re lucky, the ticket you’re about to get won’t be all that expensive. But that might soon be the least of your worries. Even if you got that ticket on the other side of the country during a vacation it’s soon likely to land on your driving record back home. And that means your insurance company is likely to find out about it, as well.
“We all make mistakes, and doing so while driving will cost you. Of course, you’ll know immediately how much you owe for your ticket, but often you won’t know the impact of the ticket on your car insurance rate until you get your renewal from your insurer,” said Michelle Megna, managing editor of Insurance.com.
Just how much your insurance will go up can vary from one insurer to another. And someone with a previously perfect record might make out better than another motorist with a bad driving history. But after studying nearly 500,000 auto insurance quotes the web service came up with numbers that reflect what it claims are the average rate hikes you’ll face.
Even a seemingly minor infraction will cost you. The typical motorist will face a rate hike of 3% for being cited – and found guilty – of a seat belt infraction. If you’re paying $2,500 a year already that would add another $75 to your annual insurance bill. Caught speeding 12 mph over the limit? The ticket might have been less than $100 – but your insurance will now go up 11%, or $275 in this example. And the faster you were driving over the limit the bigger the rate hike.
Here are some other examples of the typical rate hike you can expect for some common motor vehicle infractions, according to the Insurance.com study:
- Reckless driving: 22%
- DUI first offense: 19%
- Careless driving: 16%
- Speeding 30 mph over the limit 15%
- Tailgating: 13%
- Speeding 15 to 29 mph over the limit: 12%
- Speeding 1 to 14% over the limit: 11%
- No car insurance: 6%.
Those averages will likely vary depending on your age, your record, even where you live, experts warn.
But, in some cases, you may have options to get slapped with this second penalty for a moving vehicle violation. Some states, such as California, offer programs that allow you to have certain violations, such as speeding, removed from your record by taking a driver’s safety program. Some infractions typically aren’t covered, such as a DUI, and most states allow a motorist to take this route no more than once a year.
Some states also permit a motorist to ask the court to take a ticket “under advisement,” or some similar process. In most cases, that means paying the full penalty and possibly even an additional court fee but if you don’t get hit with an additional violation during a specified period the ticket may go away.
Courts – meaning judges, arbitrators, magistrates or prosecutors – also have even been known to change the nature of a violation to one that may have less impact on your record – and thus your insurance. Police in several states can write a speeding ticket up as a so-called “energy violation,” that won’t go on your permanent record. And the district court in one suburban Detroit community, recognizing its police were being unusually aggressive on speeding, let motorists with an otherwise good record plead guilty to an “excess noise” violation that carried no points or insurance penalty.
To check out Insurance.com’s rate hike calculator, Click Here.