How a Traffic Ticket Affects Your Insurance Rates
Whether you realize it or not, even the most minor of traffic tickets can have serious ramifications on your insurance and driving record for years to come. You’re probably already paying an arm and a leg for your insurance, but imagine paying an extra $25-$100 a month due to a traffic ticket. It’s a real possibility, depending on the severity of your ticket and how many you receive. A minor speeding ticket may raise your rates by a few a dollars, but three tickets in two years will likely have a drastic effect on your insurance. For most people, it takes just one serious traffic offense to see a major price increase. If you’re ever charged with a DUI, expect to see about a 25% increase in your rates, of course, that’s if your insurance company doesn’t completely drop you from their coverage. While a traffic ticket can cost you money in insurance rates, it can cost you in other ways too.
Other ways a Ticket will Cost You
- Years ago you might have paid a paltry $20 for a minor traffic offense such as speeding, these days your ticket could cost you over five times that amount. Consider yourself lucky if your next traffic ticket is under $100.
- The best way to deal with a traffic ticket is to get it removed from your record by going to traffic school. However, nothing in life is free and traffic school could cost you just as much as your ticket.
- Let’s not forget how a traffic ticket can cost you in ways money cannot measure. For instance, going to traffic school or traffic court takes time out of your day, possibly out of your work so you earn less money.
- Have you been charged a major offense, like a DUI? Not only will you be looking at a very large fine and possibly restricted access to your car, there’s lawyer fees and even a chance of jail time. For some people, this could even mean the loss of their job
- If you’re a repeat offender and have earned multiple traffic violations over the past two to three years, your next ticket could very well cost you your driver’s license. Just imagine how else your life would be affected without being able to drive.
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