It seems that car insurance rates are always changing. Actuaries are constantly calculating insurance rates and determining who poses a threat and who does not. One way to determine if somebody is a threat is by looking at the type or number of driving tickets that person has. A person without any tickets is presumed to be a safe driver, and therefore poses less of a risk to the company. A person who has a lot of tickets is thought to be a non-safe driver and therefore poses a high risk to the company. It is important for people to know how tickets could affect their insurance rates.
The cause of the ticket determines the weight of the ticket in most states. A person who is driving very fast or a person who is tailgating may get a ticket for reckless driving. A reckless driving ticket has a high point value and if they are given in addition to another ticket (for example, speeding), then the point value increases. The more points a person has on their license, the higher their insurance rates will be. A driver’s license will be either suspended or revoked if the point value surpasses the legal limit. Having a revoked or suspended license will cause your insurance rates to become excessively high once you are allowed to drive again.
Not all tickets will affect your insurance rates. These tickets include non-moving violations and parking tickets. However, if these tickets are received along with other driving violations the insurance company can and probably will take these into account also.
Usually, small speeding tickets that carry a point value of one or two will not affect your insurance rate. However, your insurance rates will increase if you receive multiple infractions. When the insurance company checks a new drivers record, or when they renew an existing policy, any and all infractions are subject to be taken into account to determine the risk of the person.
Points can stay on a license for a period of three to five years, depending on the violation and the state of residence. Insurance companies can see all violations, which means that a speeding ticket can affect rates for between three and five years from the time it happened.
After a maximum of five years of driving with no violations, all existing violations will then be removed from the record. This excludes things such as DUI violations. After your record has been cleaned, your insurance rates will decrease again, because you are then viewed as a safe driver to the insurance company.
In all cases, it is best to always drive safely. This will prevent hazardous situations in which you could be hurt, or given a ticket that is very expensive that you will be paying for the next three to five years.