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.
Will a Speeding Ticket in Washington Increase My Car Insurance?
Reader’s Question:
I have a speeding ticket in the state of Washington. Will this increase my car insurance premium?
Melanie
Thank you for asking Melanie.
Individual insurance providers in the state of Washington determine their own insurance rates based on their own internal rating system. Their rate requests is submitted to the WA Insurance Commissioner for review. The request will be approved if the state agency is satisfied with the rates.
Insurance companies’ car insurance rates are based on different factors. The premium you pay consists of a base rate. The base rate depends on various factors like your age, marital status, driving pattern, sex, claims history, location, credit history, and the make, model and year of your car. You have to remember when you shop around that these companies uses different factors and rates.
Most insurers apply a surcharge to motorist who got involved in an accident or those who were convicted of multiple moving violations. In addition to that, your rates will likely increase because of your claims history. This means that the increase on your premiums will depend on the rating system of insurance companies.
To get more information on the rating system of your insurance company you may contact your insurance agent or the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner where they submitted their rates. Your agent will be able to tell you if one traffic violation will increase your premiums.
Goodluck!
MariCAR
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