Does a speeding ticket affect auto insurance rates?

Getting caught speeding not only leads to fines, but it can also cause your auto insurance rates to increase. But how long does a speeding ticket affect your auto insurance and how much will your rates increase?

When you get cited for speeding, you’re ordered to appear in court or pay your fine by mail. If you pay the fine, you’re admitting guilt, and the citation will turn into a conviction on your driving record.

After you pay your fine, you may be done in court, but you aren’t done paying the cost of driving above the posted speed limit.

Read through our guide to learn what happens to your auto insurance policy when you are given a speeding citation, and why your driving record is one of the factors that affect auto insurance rates. 

Speeding tickets can have a significant effect on the cost of your insurance. Whether your rates go up, and by how much, will depend on your age, gender, driving record, accident history, and the state you live in.

If you’re curious to learn how long a speeding ticket affects auto insurance rates, read on to find out how long surcharges can last.

If your rates have increased recently because of a speeding ticket, start comparison shopping for high-risk auto insurance. Just enter your ZIP code into our free tool above and compare auto insurance quotes for people with speeding tickets. 

How does a speeding ticket affect your cost of auto insurance?

How do speeding tickets affect insurance rates? Technically, it depends on what company you use and what your driving record looks like. The surcharge for a speeding ticket also depends on how fast you were going over the limit.

How long does a speeding ticket stay on your record? While the timeline changes by provider, speeding tickets stay on your driving record for about 36 months.

If you are cited for going one to 29 miles per hour over the speed limit, you could face an average surcharge of between 11% to 12%.

However, if you are convicted of going 30 miles per hour over the speed limit, otherwise known as criminally speeding, the surcharge goes up to around 15%.

In the following table, compare annual auto insurance rates based on a clean driving record and driving records with one speeding violation from different national insurance providers.

Average Annual Auto Insurance Rates with a Clean Record versus 1 Speeding Ticket by Company

As you can see, drivers with one speeding ticket pay $46 more per month or $552 more per year for auto insurance than those with clean records. 

The USAA speeding ticket violation rates are the most affordable when compared to other auto insurance companies. However, USAA is only available to members of active or retired military personnel and their immediate families.

If you have speeding tickets and are not in the military, the best auto insurance companies are American Family, Geico, Nationwide, and State Farm.

Some insurance companies penalize speeding tickets more so than others. In fact, some providers now offer an accident forgiveness program.

This acts like an insurance discount by wiping a minor violation or citation, such as speeding, off of your record and providing you with more competitive rates. 

If you are an experienced driver and do not have any prior insurance claims, plus few to no other citations on your record, then you’ll see the lowest increase in your rates. This is especially true if your insurance company has been insuring you for any length of time with no claims.

In this scenario, you’ve already established a good level or trust between yourself and your insurance provider. 

Teenagers will have a harder time, however, due to their lack of driving experience already placing them in a high-risk insurance group. Similarly, if you decide to go to a new insurance company after receiving a speeding ticket, that insurance carrier is likely to quote you a higher rate after seeing the traffic citation.

Basically, because you have a very recent ticket, you will be deemed a more considerable risk by any company that is deciding whether to take you on as a new client.

Don’t worry, a bad driving record doesn’t last forever. Keep reading to learn what you can do to get a fresh start in the eyes of insurance providers. 

How long does a speeding ticket affect your auto insurance?

If you are caught speeding, the ticket will stay on your driving record for at least 3 years, longer in some cases. You can pay off a fine through the court in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy when it comes to your insurance rates following a conviction.

For at least those 3 years, expect to pay around a 15% surcharge for your auto insurance. Perhaps a little less if you were not cited for criminal speeding.

However, the number of speeding tickets you have on your record, as well as at-fault accidents and auto insurance claims, will also play a role in how much your rate may increase.

Your first speeding ticket may not affect your auto insurance very much. Sometimes, auto insurance won’t increase your rates at all.

However, a second or third violation will certainly lead to increases in your premiums. But how do auto insurance companies check your driving record and what exactly is it, anyway?

Most states have a department of motor vehicles, or DMV, that keeps public logs for each driver. These logs are known as a full motor vehicle report or MVR. 

Recent driving activity will be included in your MVR. This includes the following information:

• Traffic citations
• Speeding tickets
• Convictions
• Accidents
• Parking tickets
• License restrictions (for example, whether or not you’re required to wear glasses or contacts to drive).
• License suspensions

When you’re convicted of speeding, your insurance won’t go up until your next renewal period. When your renewal is processed, and the ticket shows up on your MVR, the carrier can then add the surcharge.

Some tickets can carry a surcharge for more extended periods for more serious violations like reckless driving and driving under the influence.

Ultimately, your auto insurance rates are determined based on how risky the auto insurance company considers you to be. Auto insurance companies each have different methods for calculating risk, and thus different methods for determining rates. 

If you have a rocky driving record, shop around for auto insurance companies who weigh those citations less than other providers. This way, you’ll know you’re paying your best rates until those violations fall off of your record.

How else will a speeding ticket affect my auto insurance?

If you get a ticket, know that you are not alone. Some of the speeding ticket statistics are staggering. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 9,378 speed-related deaths were recorded in 2018, which dropped by 6% from 2017.

You already know that getting a speeding ticket will likely increase your auto insurance premium. However, did you know that you may not see immediate changes depending on when your renewal date occurs? 

That’s right, you likely will not see your premium increase from a speeding ticket until your auto insurance carrier reviews and renews your policy at the end of your contract term. This time in your insurance policy is also known as the renewal period.

Just because a surcharge can fall off your policy after three years doesn’t mean that the ticket can’t still affect your rates. Another way a speeding ticket can impact your auto insurance is that it can lead to losing different discounts. Safe driver and defensive driver discounts, for example. 

Be sure to review the qualifications for these hefty discounts so that you know what to expect. If you’re convicted of driving over the speed limit, it is in your best interest to take traffic school when you’re eligible.

If you’re not happy with the price of your auto insurance, make sure to compare rates with other carriers before you accept a high surcharge.

If there is a qualifying event from the prior year or six-months that would’ve usually lowered your insurance rates, then you may see little or no change to your premiums.

For example, drivers under the age of 25 are considered higher risk. If you are turning 25 before your policy renews, the speeding ticket may offset the savings you would have received for reaching an age that is considered less risky for auto insurance carriers.

Finally, if you have several traffic violations in three years, your carrier may decide to drop you instead of renewing you. We’ll discuss this in more detail in the next sections.

Will my insurance company drop me for a speeding ticket?

If you have several traffic violations, including speeding tickets, there is a chance that your insurance company will decide to drop you as a client.

It is against the law for your insurance company to cancel your insurance policy unless you have committed fraud, haven’t paid your bill, or don’t have a driver’s license. However, your provider also has the ability to refuse to renew your policy when it expires for any reason.

The likelihood of not being renewed as a result of a single speeding ticket is minimal. However, If you have had several throughout the duration of your policy, then nonrenewal is possible. 

Usually, insurance carriers drop clients who commit much worse traffic violations, including drunk driving or multiple reckless at-fault accidents. 

Just know that your risk as a driver would have to be significant for this to happen. You are far more likely to just see substantial increases to your premium amount instead of actually being dropped from your insurance provider.

What should I do if my auto insurance company does not renew me after a speeding ticket?

Unless your old insurance company is going out of business or is not offering auto insurance in your area anymore, the only reason you would not be renewed is for being too high-risk of a driver.

As a high-risk driver, you should expect to pay higher than average premiums for less coverage.

Unlike low-risk drivers, who insurance companies can count on to pay their premiums and not have to make a claim, there is an expectation that accidents will happen and more claims will be made by the high-risk drivers.

If your insurance carrier does not renew your policy after you’ve received a speeding ticket, you will need to find a company that offers high-risk auto insurance.

If you are still having a difficult time finding a carrier that will insure you, the alternative is to find companies that specialize in non-standard auto insurance. Non-standard insurance is for drivers that are unable to find insurance products at a reasonable price from other carriers.

Even if you can find insurance at other locations, this is likely your best option for reasonable rates as a high-risk driver. Make sure to review the policy to ensure all of your needs are met.

Ultimately, safe driving always pays off. Not only does it keep the roads safer, but it also will prevent you from overpaying for auto insurance. 

What other factors affect the price of auto insurance?

There are many different factors besides your driving record that will impact your auto insurance rates. However, the Department of Insurance must approve auto insurance rates to ensure that they are set at a fair and appropriate amount. 

Once an insurer’s rates are officially supported, the company can begin to charge those rates to the public, increasing accordingly based on driver-risk.

When carriers give out quotes and underwrite applications, personal rating factors will then be used to set the price for each policy.

Those factors can vary drastically by provider, which is why comparison shopping is so vital. Until you compare quotes from multiple different companies, you’ll have no way of knowing what one will offer you your lowest rate without compromising your coverage needs. 

The best auto insurance company for people with speeding tickets will either forgive the minor violation and provide you with the base rate or will work with you so you can receive the coverage you need without up-charging you. 

There’s a long list of individual risk factors that are used to determine the cost of a policy. Actuarial studies show that each factor can either increase the likelihood of filing a claim or decrease that risk.

Here are some of the factors that are used by most insurance companies:

• Driver age and gender
• Years of driving experience
• Marital status
• Credit-based insurance score
• Vehicle make and model and safety record
• Location and garaging ZIP code
• Accident history
• Driving record
• Driving patterns
• Annual mileage driven

In states where it is still legal, auto insurance companies will usually also check your credit score. It doesn’t affect your score, but it can give the company insight into your potential level of risk. 

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the better your credit, the less risk you’ll be to the insurance company. Not only does having good credit make you more likely to pay your insurance bills on time, but it also proves you’ll be able to afford your deductibles or other repair costs as well.

Why does your driving record affect your auto insurance rates?

Your driving record is one of the easiest ways for an insurance provider to assess how risky of a driver you are. People with bad driving records statistically cause more accidents, file more claims, and ultimately cost insurance providers more money in the long run.

The only time a speeding ticket will cost your insurer money is when your speeding results in a collision. While a speeding ticket alone doesn’t cost the insurer money, it often will cost you in the form of higher insurance rates. That’s on top of any ticket or citation you may have received from law enforcement.

Insurance carriers can charge you a surcharge even when the infraction didn’t result in a claim because traffic convictions, even for speeding, increase your likelihood of having an accident in the future.

Since drivers with speeding tickets are riskier in the eyes of the insurer, they will pay higher rates than those with clear records.