Anuj Kasera
By Anuj Kasera
The worst experience while driving is seeing the red and blue flashing lights in your rearview mirror. As you try your best to feign ignorance or come up with an original reason to justify your speeding, be assured that you are going to be ticketed. Keep your responses brief, polite and factual. Do not lie but do not volunteer unnecessary information either.
When asked for the documents, ask permission to retrieve them. If you are asked whether you know why you were pulled over, your best response may be noncommittal, “I am not sure.” For the purpose of this discussion today, we will discuss some of the questions that you may have after getting the ticket.
When do the rates change?
Premiums usually will not change immediately after getting a ticket. The carriers typically review your MVR (Motor Vehicle Record) before issuing the renewal policy. Any violations will certainly show up in your records – regardless of the location of the violation. All states share violation information and so sooner or later, it will be there in your records. How long it stays there, or can impact you, will depend on your state of residence. In NC, insurance points for speeding tickets and most moving violations stay for three years from the date of conviction.
Major violations like reckless driving or DUI can affect your rate for up to 10 years.
Insurance carriers base their rate on risks, and a speeding ticket obviously proves risky behavior that is associated with a higher likelihood of accidents. Now how do insurance companies determine the rate of increase? Each carrier has come up with its own algorithm to assign risk based on the event and charges accordingly. All of them consider at least the following:
Over the limit speed: 1-10 mph over the limit is usually considered a minor violation while 25+ mph can classify you as a high-risk driver, leading to massive premium spikes and in some cases a notice of non-renewal.
Driving history: Some insurers may overlook your first speeding ticket, depending on your driving history, coverage, and the details of the violation. However, this is usually a one-time exception.
If you receive another ticket or are involved in an accident, many insurers may factor in both the new incident and the earlier ticket, which can lead to a much larger rate increase. Moreover, most likely your safe-driver discount will go away.
Driver profile: Younger, inexperienced drivers will see steeper rate increases than experienced drivers.
What can you do?
Once you have received the ticket, there are some proactive steps that you can take to minimize the impact of the rate increase. Insurance companies understand that mistakes happen and are equally interested in seeing that you are working on avoiding these mistakes in the future. One of the most popular mitigation steps is to take a defensive driving course.
Some carriers may offer reduced increases or remove points from your record if you voluntarily complete an approved defensive driving course.
Secondly, compare rates across different carriers. Each carrier evaluates tickets differently. You should talk to your agent to shop around and get updated quotes to ensure that you are getting the best possible rate.
Do not ever skip the court date! Usually during the hearing, depending on the severity of your ticket, you may be offered a reduced violation like improper equipment vs. speeding. If you are unable to attend, you may want to engage the services of an attorney who can get these charges reduced.
If the increase has caused undue financial burden, and if you can afford to take the risk, consider raising your deductible to offset some of the pain.
Finally, companies are increasingly offering options to track your driving habits like speed, braking, distance, phone usage, etc. which allows them to evaluate your driving habits and offer a more customized rate. These telematics programs do offer better rates but may come at the cost of privacy.
In some ways, this is similar to your phone tracking your location and movement. So, just make sure you understand the pros and cons before opting for the telemetrics program. We will have another article on the pros and cons of this increasingly popular tool but for this purpose, enrolling in the telemetrics program may be easiest and most effective way to get additional discounts to offset the increase in premium.
Anuj Kasera is a long term resident of Charlotte, NC and owns an insurance agency, focusing mostly on home, auto and business insurance. He can be reached at anujkasera@gmail.com.
