UPDATED: AUGUST 07, 2023 | 1 MIN READ
Imagine you’re running late to work, so you decide to drive a bit over the speed limit. Before you know it, you’ve been pulled over for speeding and are handed a ticket. Now you’re probably wondering: Does a speeding ticket affect your insurance?
You’re not alone — nearly 41 million Americans receive speeding tickets yearly. In most cases, speeding tickets can increase your car insurance premium. However, it depends on your driving history, if the ticket was a first offense and other factors.
In this guide, we’ll run through how speeding tickets affect your car insurance and what you can do to reduce your premiums after committing a traffic violation.
Does a speeding ticket affect your insurance?
You may not see an insurance premium increase if you received a speeding ticket and it’s a first offense. However, if you’ve committed multiple speeding violations close to one another, you’ll likely see an insurance rate increase.
There are a few ways speeding tickets can affect your insurance:
- An increase in your insurance rate
- An increase in your insurance premium during the renewal period
- A loss of standard coverage
- A loss of cost-reduction benefits
Your insurance provider is the biggest factor in determining if a speeding ticket will affect your car insurance. Different insurance providers have their own factors in determining risky driving behavior. For further details, it’s best to contact your insurer directly to see how they weigh speeding tickets.
How much does a speeding ticket increase insurance?
There isn’t a standard percentage that your insurance premium will increase after receiving a speeding ticket — the percentage will depend mostly on your insurance provider. However, the national average increase in car insurance rates after a speeding ticket is 24%, or $380 added on yearly.
Other factors can impact how much your insurance premium may increase after a speeding violation, including:
- Your driving record
- Whether the ticket was a first offense
- If the violation wasn’t a first offense, then how long it‘s been since your last moving violation
- How fast you were going over the speed limit
- The location of the offense
The weight of these factors will again vary depending on the auto insurance provider.
What to do to reduce premiums after a speeding ticket
If you’ve received a speeding ticket recently, there are things you can do to reduce your auto insurance costs possibly.
Take a defensive driving course.
In some states, you may decrease your insurance premium by enrolling in an accident prevention or defensive driving course. In Washington State, for example, traffic tickets can be removed from your record if you complete a state-approved defensive driving course. When the ticket falls off your record, your insurer may re-evaluate and reduce your insurance premium.
Consider changing your insurance coverage.
If your insurance premium increases after receiving a speeding ticket, you can possibly reduce the damage by changing your auto coverage. The viability of this option will depend on your personal insurance requirements.
Before making any changes, contact your insurance agent, and they’ll be able to provide you with more information about your auto insurance coverage.
Focus on driving safely.
Most importantly, driving safely is the best thing to do after receiving a speeding ticket. The cleaner your driving record is, the lower your insurance premium will be. Avoid racking up more traffic violations to keep your car insurance costs as low as possible.
How do speeding tickets affect your driving record?
How a speeding ticket affects your driving record will depend on where you live. Most states use a points system to track driving records. When you receive a speeding ticket or another driving violation, points are added to your driving record by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), causing your insurance premiums to increase. The number of points will depend on how your state weighs traffic violations and the severity of the speeding ticket.
Nine states don’t currently use a points system:
- Hawaii
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- Washington
- Wyoming
While they don’t use a points system, these states still add speeding violations to your driving record, which can impact your insurance rates.
FAQs
Below are answers to some commonly asked questions about what occurs after you receive a speeding ticket and how it can affect your car insurance.
Why do car insurance rates go up after a speeding ticket?
Your driving record is the biggest indicator of how safe you drive. This doesn’t just include accidents and DUIs, but speeding violations as well. Driving over the speed limit is viewed as risky driving behavior. Therefore, your insurance company may take extra precautions after you receive a speeding ticket and bump up your insurance premium.
The severity of an insurance rate increase will depend on your insurance provider and your residing state’s traffic laws. The more speeding tickets you receive, the more at risk you are for a high insurance premium.
If you received a speeding ticket and are worried, you hiked up your insurance premium forever — don’t stress too much. Your insurance provider will typically re-examine accumulated traffic violations after three to five years and update your insurance premium accordingly.
Can you get a ticket removed after pleading guilty?
There are two routes to choose from after you receive a speeding ticket. The first option is to plead not guilty. After pleading not guilty, you can secure a summary trial date for your case. You’ll have the opportunity to negotiate the traffic citation in a trial, which can include removing the ticket from your driving record.
The second option is to plead guilty, and it’s much more difficult to remove the ticket from your record in this case. It’ll most likely result in you paying the necessary fines, adding points to your driving record, and increasing your insurance premium.
Several options exist if you still wish to remove the ticket after pleading guilty. You could hire a lawyer and go to court to remove it, or you could take a state-approved defensive driving course to clear your driving record.
Lastly, waiting for the ticket to fall off your record is the easiest option. The waiting time will depend on the state, but it’s typically between three and five years.
Do other non-moving violations affect insurance?
Non-moving violations don’t typically affect your insurance rate. Examples include parking tickets and vehicle violations like a dead tail light. Non-moving violations don’t signify that you’re a risky driver like a speeding ticket can.
Most states that use points don’t report non-moving violations on driving records. However, states that don’t use a points system do note non-moving violations on their record.
Is it worth fighting a speeding ticket?
The possibility of success of fighting a speeding ticket depends on the circumstances. Consider the variables and the events leading up to the traffic citation. For example, let’s say you found that your vehicle has a faulty speedometer after taking it to an auto shop. In this situation, you could have a case to get the ticket removed.
Typically, you’ll need to hire an attorney to represent you in court, which can be costly — unless you feel comfortable representing yourself. The location of the court can also impact the possibility of reversing a speeding ticket. Some courts may have a history of dropping tickets for those with clean driving records, while some may not be as lenient.
Do out-of-state tickets affect insurance?
Traffic violations received out of your resident state can still affect your insurance cost. However, how the state and your insurance company view the violation could result in little to no changes to your insurance rate.
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