Does Texting While Driving Affect Insurance?
August 15, 2021 by Jean Humbrecht
Yes. Car insurance rates will almost always increase after speeding and Reckless Driving by Speed convictions in Virginia. The question is, how much? Insurance is all about risk, and an insurance company will determine rates based on the risk that the driver will get in an accident or make claims in the future which will require the insurance company to pay out for property damage, injuries, or death. Car insurance companies can and will find out what is on a person’s driving record. They can look at a driver’s record at any time (but usually when policies are up for renewal), when policy holders make a claim, or if policy holders are looking to make changes to their policies. Once a driver is convicted and the court sends the conviction record to the DMV, the driver’s insurance company most likely will find out about it. It is not so much DMV points that cause premium increases, but the fact the driver was convicted of any traffic offense. If the offense is serious enough, the carrier can even completely drop the insured personmeaning the driver will lose his or her insurance. Whether and how much the conviction affects an individual driver’s insurance will depend on many factors including (but not limited to) the person’s overall driving record, history and length of time with the company, number of years the person has been driving, the type of car the person drives, the number of prior moving violations, where the person lives, how often the person drives, credit score, gender, the person’s history of continuous insurance
coverage, and history of accidents, claims, suspensions or revocations. Additionally, the insurance company can look at whether the speeding ticket (or any ticket) was a first offense, the amount of time between moving violations on the person’s driving record, the number of miles-per-hour over the speed limit the person was driving, and where the speeding or other traffic offense occurred, among other things. Certain factors will be more important to some insurance companies than others. And if a person is looking to get new insurance or make changes to his or her policy, the premiums will be higher if the driver has recent speeding ticket convictions. Some traffic convictions can even make people completely uninsurable. An insurance company may also refuse to renew an insurance policy if a driving record is bad enough-for example, if the driver has too many moving violations or violations that the insurance company deems to be risky behaviors. Like anything in life (and Like anything in life (and the law), it is not necessarily just one speeding ticket that will destroy a driver’s record and cause the person to lose his or her insurance. Multiple traffic convictions (for speeding or anything else) will have an effect on a driver’s insurance costs. Some insurance companies may view drivers with speeding convictions to be high risk drivers and increase the insurance premiums on that basis alone-even if the speeding did not involve an accident and there was no claim made. Other insurers may not increase premiums at all after a speeding conviction if the person has an otherwise clean driving record, a long history without problems or claims, or 49 it is a true first offense. However, it is rare that a conviction for speeding or another moving violation will not affect a driver’s car insurance rates. Every insurance company has different rules about what will cause premium hikes and even possible loss of insurance coverage altogether. Additionally, insurance companies can differ on how much weight to give certain factors when determining whether to issue or renew a policy. The one thing that is common to all insurance companies, though, is that a conviction for a traffic offense (including a speeding ticket) will almost always cause a driver’s rates to go up. And if the offense is serious enough, the insurance carrier can drop the insured person completely. Even if that one conviction does not result in an increase in premiums, it will remain on the driver’s record with the insurance company and may have an effect if the person makes a claim in the future or receives another ticket. If the driver does not get any more traffic tickets, then after a few years the payments will probably go down again. In general, the longer a person drives, the more likely he or she is to receive a reduction in insurance costs. This is, of course, if the person has a good driving record with minimal convictions or claims. Will My Employer’s Insurance Rates Go Up Because Of My Speeding Conviction? If a person must drive for work, having a clean or good driving record is very important. A company’s insurance could and most likely will go up if any of their drivers are convicted of traffic offenses or if they are involved in W
it is a true first offense. However, it is rare that a conviction for speeding or another moving violation will not affect a driver’s car insurance rates. Every insurance company has different rules about what will cause premium hikes and even possible loss of insurance coverage altogether. Additionally, insurance companies can differ on how much weight to give certain factors when determining whether to issue or renew a policy. The one thing that is common to all insurance companies, though, is that a conviction for a traffic offense (including a speeding ticket) will almost always cause a driver’s rates to go up. And if the offense is serious enough, the insurance carrier can drop the insured person completely. Even if that one conviction does not result in an increase in premiums, it will remain on the driver’s record with the insurance company and may have an effect if the person makes a claim in the future or receives another ticket. If the driver does not get any more traffic tickets, then after a few years the payments will probably go down again. In general, the longer a person drives, the more likely he or she is to receive a reduction in insurance costs. This is, of course, if the person has a good driving record with minimal convictions or claims.
Will My Employer’s Insurance Rates Go Up Because Of My Speeding Conviction? If a person must drive for work, having a clean or good driving record is very important. A company’s insurance could and most likely will go up if any of their drivers are convicted of traffic offenses or if they are involved in accidents. This can happen whether the traffic offenses or accidents occurred while driving company vehicles or their own personal vehicles. As a result, the driver could be removed from driving a company vehicle or worse yet, lose his or her job. If driving a company vehicle or driving during work hours is a required part of a person’s job duties, that person should think long and hard before just paying a speeding ticket or admitting guilt to Reckless Driving in court. Will Car Insurance Go Up More For Younger Drivers Convicted Of Speeding In Virginia? Yes. Car insurance is more expensive for teens and younger drivers to begin with, and even more so if they have traffic convictions. If a driver under 20 is convicted of speeding in Virginia (or any other traffic offense), his or her car insurance rates will go up. As with adult drivers, insurance companies will take into consideration a number of different factors when granting (or cancelling) a policy and determining rates. The driver’s age, history of driving, history with that insurance company, and driving record are just a few of many considerations the insurance company will examine. However, a younger driver will without a doubt see drastic increases in his or her insurance rates after any traffic convictions. And it is usually the young driver’s parents who are paying for the insurance and will have to deal with the increase in bills (not to mention the cost of paying a lawyer, paying for a driver improvement class, and potentially paying a driver’s license reinstatement fee, in addition to the obvious cost of paying the fine).