The Types Of Tickets That Send Your Insurance Up

Several very common tickets can cause your insurance, one of the largest transportation costs, to spike.

While car insurance rates vary heavily based on your own history, your vehicle, and where you live, certain tickets will have you paying a lot more than what’s written on the piece of paper. It doesn’t matter how old you are, your gender, your record, or the vehicle you drive, there is only one sure way to minimize your insurance rates, and that’s a good driving record. Your premium reflects the risk your insurance provider sees you as representing. While many factors that go into many premiums are uncontrollable or just unfair, such as younger people and women paying more across the US, there are several kinds of tickets which you can avoid getting, and really really should. Insurance comparison site Zebra recently outlined the tickets which have the biggest impact on your premium.

First of all, don’t text and drive. While you can argue the many different ways in which that one text was absolutely necessary, keep in mind that if you get caught, you can expect an almost 20% increase to your annual premium. The average texting and driving ticket causes an individual driver’s premium to go up by 19%, or $288.

It should be no surprise that speeding is one of the worst tickets to get, increasing annual premiums by an average of $341. Next, driving under the influence will cost the average driver a 74% increase to their premium, translating to an average of $1086 per year. Collisions are also quite costly, whether you’re at fault or not. At-fault collisions cost the average driver a 42% increase to their premium, about $617 per year, while not-at-fault collisions will still cost the average driver almost $100 per year. If you’re worried about collisions more now, don’t forget about your seat belt! Not wearing a seat belt costs the average driver $60 per year through their effects on insurance premiums.

Lastly, running a red light can increase your insurance premium by up to 22%, or $330 on average.

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5 years ago