Will Traffic Tickets Affect My Auto Insurance Rates in Washington

Reader’s Question:

I’ve had a few traffic violation citations here in Washington State. How will my driving history affect my vehicle insurance policy rates? The latest violation I had happened 2 months ago.

Anthony,

Bellevue, WA

The Washington State Office notes that auto insurance companies must compute the vehicle insurance rates based on the dollar amount. This base rate must be adjusted according to certain factors determined by the auto insurance company. These are gender, age, marital status, model and make of the vehicle, driving history, credit history, claims history, and geographical area. The vehicle insurance carrier may impose an additional charge if you have been in an accident or you have violated a traffic rule. This is referred to as a surcharge.

The WA Department of Leasing (DOL) notes that convictions and violations or infractions will be kept in your driving record for five years upon the conviction date. For collisions, this will be recorded in your MVR. The record will show who are involved in the incident, whether one or none of the involved parties were parked when the incident happened, the persons affected and the type of injury it caused them. For private vehicles, the incident will stay in the driver’s record for 5 years, while for commercial vehicles, it’s 10 years.

In WA, the auto insurance company decides on how long the violations or accidents could affect a driver’s vehicle’s insurance rate. However, most insurance companies will rate you based on your moving violations for a period of 3, 5 or 7 years, depending on the frequency of occurrence of the violations and accidents.

Auto Insurance Liability Coverage Washington

Reader’s Question:

I know that my auto insurance company will take care of me when I meet an accident, and that they’ll also take care of the damages to the occupants of the other car, too. However, what would happen if the other driver sues me? Would my auto insurance policy cover this? I have liability coverage

Kevin

Seattle, WA

Kevin, if you have liability insurance coverage, then your insurance policy will cover the damages done by the accident which you caused. If you did not cause the accident, then the other guy’s insurance policy will cover the damages. If the other driver guy decides to go to court, then your liability insurance coverage will still take care of your fees.

Liability insurance covers the expenses that the legal battle that results from the accident will cause. If you get sued in Washington, your auto insurance company will defend you in court. Be rest assured that your auto insurance company will hire a competent lawyer to defend you in court. The insurance will do its best to find a very good lawyer to represent you as the auto insurance company is also obligated to handle the legal payouts if ever the insured party loses the legal battle.

If you lose in court, the auto insurance company will pay for the fines/payments imposed by the court. It is because of this nature of liability insurance coverage that makes this crucial to motorists and even other professionals such as doctors and businessmen. Liability insurance coverage takes care of you when you figure in an accident, it also takes care of the other people who were affected by the accident and it takes care of you even after the accident.

Beginner Driver Auto Insurance Washington

Reader’s Question:

I’m a beginner driver, and I just got my driver’s permit a couple months back here in Washington. Last night, I was driving home from my part-time job. I didn’t see a kid that was on his trike till it was almost too late. The kid’s okay, but I crashed the car into someone’s mailbox. Will I have to pay for the guy’s mailbox myself, or will the auto insurance company cover this? I’m not insured, but hoping I can use my parents’ auto insurance.

Leo

Bellingham, WA

Oh, well, they say there’s always a first time for everyone. It’s a really great thing that you had the presence of mind to avoid hitting the kid even if you are just a beginner driver. He must have been so scared when he realized what happened!

Of course, hitting some guy’s mailbox instead isn’t the best way to go. And you will be expected to repair anything that you damage. I suggest you tell your parents about it and help them get in touch with their auto insurance provider in Washington. In general, you do not need your own auto insurance as you do not have your own license yet and you do not have your own vehicle, as well. So you should be covered under your parent’s auto insurance since you were driving their vehicle. However, some auto insurance companies require their policy holders to have all people driving the vehicle listed in the policy. Also, most states in the USA require different amount of liability insurance, so if your parents have this, then this should be able to cover the cost of the repair for the mailbox. The thing is if they only got liability insurance, then you can repair the mailbox but not the damages on the car. So, check to see if they also got collision insurance as this part will shell out the cash for repairs to the vehicle. Otherwise, I hope your job pays you more than enough because you’ll be the one paying for repairs to the car. Next time, please drive safely and keep your eyes on the road.

Car Insurance Rate Washington

Reader’s Question:

If I received a ticket from another state and not in my home state in Washington, will that increase my car insurance rate?

Henry

Bellevue, WA

Your insurance rate may increase if you received a conviction for a traffic violation outside of the states you live in. However, a rate increase due to out-of-the-state violation depends upon the different factors such the rating system of the insurance provider and the how the state deals with outside traffic citations.

Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Michigan and Wisconsin are the only states in the US that are not members of the Drivers License Compact. As DLC members, states are required to report out-of-state convictions of drivers to the state where the person is licensed. The 5 states
that are not DLC member still share this information with other state since these states have their own set of agreements.

An out-of-state tickets may or may not be placed on your homestate driving record. If state opts to place the ticket on your driving record, your insurance provider will eventually find
out once they see your MVR. If the state chooses not to place the ticket on your homestate driving record, the insurance company will not see this unless they do an extensive ticket search where you will have to list this out-of-state citation

Whether or not your insurance rate will increase because of this out-of-state offense will depend upon the rating system of the insurance provider. You can contact your agent for more information about the rating system. You can contact your state DMV to check if an out of state offense will be placed on your driving record.

Auto Insurance Discounts in Washington

Reader’s Question:

My name is Watson from Spokane, Washington. . I speak for every car owner here when I ask: How can we get ourselves a cheaper auto insurance premium? Discounts, discounts, discounts.

Watson

Spokane, WA

Spoken like a true Washingtonian. Sorry, just had to say that. Now that it’s out of my system, let’s go to your question.

How to get cheaper insurance premium? Most, if not all, insurance companies extend discounts for various reasons. If you have had no accidents listed in your insurance history in the last three to five years, you will get a discount. If you buy other policies (homeowners, renters) from the same company, you will get multiline discount. If you own more than one car and you get insurances from the same auto insurance company for all of them, that’s another discount for you (multi vehicle discount). Buy a very safe car, one with side airbags, for example, you get a discount for it. Some companies will look at what you do and give you discounts. They would offer discounts to teachers, engineers and scientists with good driving records. They have noticed that educators, scientists, and engineers are generally good drivers and that they tend to be meticulous and take care of their vehicles. Also, insurance companies are aware that some occupations have lower risks than others. Teaching and farming are at the top of the list of low risk jobs. In a nutshell, it’s still about risk factor. Insurance companies look at your risk factor, if it’s low, you’re okay.

 

Drunk Driving DUI Insurance in Washington

Reader’s Question:

What are the implications of DUI to my car insurance here in , Washington? I suppose it can’t be a good thing.

Bill

Spokane, WA

Since when has drunk driving been a good thing? I suppose you already know about the license suspension, lawyer fees and fines. I’m assuming here that you did get convicted of drunk driving. Well, in case you haven’t spent enough yet, on top of everything, you have to worry about higher premium prices for your vehicle insurance–that is if you are lucky. Some insurance companies will actually cancel your policy. And bet the top of your legs that you’re going to have a hard time looking for new automotive insurance. So, let’s say that your company decides to keep you, you lucky son of whatever, as one of their policy holders. You then will be branded as high risk. Your car insurance company is required to submit an SR-22 to your DMV there. It is a document that gives proof that you have the minimum required coverage, and more importantly, it reestablishes your driving privileges.

If you’re thinking that this is easy enough to handle, that it was all worth it since you had so much fun drinking, let me tell you now that not all insurance companies offer SR-22s. Check out your insurance laws there in Spokane, WA to find out. And one last thing, stop being an idiot. Don’t drink and drive.