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.

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.

Will Out of State Speeding Ticket Affect My Washington Car Insurance Rate?

Reader’s Question:

I received a speeding ticket in the state of Virginia. What will happen to my premium in Washington? Will that increase my rate?

Robert

Thank you for asking Robert.

Washington DC state and Virginia are both member states of the Driver License Compact (DLC). This means that the reckless driving ticket that you obtained from VA will appear on your driving record in Washington DC.

The DC DMV states that motorist obtain points for certain traffic infractions, whether the offense happens in the Washington or in other states. If you are found liable at a hearing and fail to pay a ticket within the required time, or are convicted of a traffic violation in court, the DC DMV will assess points in the violation. The number of points you will get depends on the type of infraction.

If the DC assigns you points for reckless driving ticket it would be 12 points and suspension of your license. If its assessed as a speeding ticket, the points would be substantially less.

Goodluck!

MariCAR

Will Out of Town Speeding Ticket Affect Car Insurance Rates?

Reader’s Question:

I received a ticket in Arizona and I just want to know if how much this will affect my insurance rate in where Im licensed, Washington. Thank you.

Carmi

Thank you for asking Carmi.

Washington and Arizona are both members of the Drivers License Compact. This means that the Arizona courts will share your traffic ticket and violation back to the Washington Department of Licensing (DOL), your home state.

The WA DOL site states that they keep a record of traffic violations, convictions for vehicle violations and for failure to appear or respond to traffic citation on every motorist in the state. This information is obtained by clerk of the courts and licensing agencies so it would show that the out of state information reported to the DOL would also be put on your WA driving record. You may check with the DOl to get more information about this..

If the Arizona traffic ticket is placed on your WA driving record then your insurance provider will be able to see it the next time they pull up your motor vehicle record (MVR). You may contact your insurance company to find out how much this violation can affect your insurance rate.

Goodluck!

MariCAR

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