Does a negligent driving ticket affect car insurance rates?
In many cases a negligent driving ticket does affect your insurance, typically causing it to increase by 26%. Negligent driving tickets will stay on your record for three years in most cases.
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Joel Ohman
Founder & CFP®
Joel Ohman is the CEO of a private equity backed digital media company. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, author, angel investor, and serial entrepreneur who loves creating new things, whether books or businesses. He has also previously served as the founder and resident CFP® of a national insurance agency, Real Time Health Quotes. He has an MBA from the University of South Florida. Jo...
Founder & CFP®
UPDATED: Oct 20, 2022
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UPDATED: Oct 20, 2022
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right coverage choices.
Advertiser Disclosure: We strive to help you make confident car insurance decisions. Comparison shopping should be easy. We are not affiliated with any one car insurance company and cannot guarantee quotes from any single company.
Our partnerships don’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own. To compare quotes from top car companies please enter your ZIP code above to use the free quote tool. The more quotes you compare, the more chances to save.
On This Page
- In most states, a negligent driving ticket is one step down from a reckless or careless driving ticket
- A negligent driving ticket in most states and cases will stay on your driving reordered for three years and can make it go up by 26%
- If you have paid your car insurance premium in full or if you are in the middle of your auto insurance policy, your rates are likely not to increase until it is time to renew your auto insurance policy
A negligent driving ticket will, unfortunately, affect your insurance rates.
What this type of ticket tells an insurance company is that at some point in your driving history you were conducting unsafe driving seen as negligent and irresponsible. Many insurance companies see this as a risk factor.
How does a negligent driving ticket affect insurance rates?
This is most likely due to the fact that many insurance companies view this type of traffic infraction as extremely careless.
How much does a ticket raise insurance? The amount that your insurance will go up depends on the company itself and the circumstances traffic violations were received under.
For example, if you received a negligent driving ticket, because you caused an accident this will lead to an increase in insurance rates; way more than if you simply forgot to turn your lights on and received a ticket.
In most states, a negligent driving ticket is one step down from a carless or reckless driving ticket. These tickets are most likely handed out to individuals who failed to follow traffic rules and laws.
If you didn’t have all working lights on your motor vehicle, an officer may issue a negligent ticket; as well as a repair ticket ordering you to get the vehicle fixed as soon as possible.
Almost any type of ticket goes on your driving reordered and impacts your auto insurance costs. The ones that have the greatest impacts are the type of tickets that reflect driving that is likely to cause an accident.
This is why you can expect negligent driving to impact your insurance rate more so than a simple speeding ticket of ten miles over the speed limit.
In order to keep your insurance rate as low as possible, it is important that you maintain a clean driving record and avoid getting negligent driving tickets or any tickets for that matter.
If you have too many negligent driving tickets, along with other traffic tickets some insurance companies may refuse to insure you.
This is because an individual with many traffic tickets and negligent driving is more likely to be involved in an accident. A high level of traffic accidents and insurance payout means insurance companies are going to have lower profits.
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How long does a negligent driving ticket affect my insurance rates?
A negligent driving ticket in most states and cases will stay on your driving reordered for three years. While it is on your driving record it will continue to affect your insurance rates.
How do you get a careless driving ticket off your record? Once you receive a negligent driving ticket there is often little you can do to have it removed from your record. You can try to go to court and have your explanation heard before the judge.
However, this type of action is rarely successful or worth your time.
It is normally best to just pay the negligent ticket and contact your insurance company to find out how much it will cause your auto insurance rates to go up.
You should only go in front of the judge if you believe you did not deserve the reckless driving ticket and the officer mistakenly gave it to you. Though many people find this to be an extreme hassle and the judge is likely to back up the police officer.
When will a negligent driving ticket affect my insurance rate?
There is some good news when dealing with a negligent driving ticket. If you have paid your car insurance premium in full or if you are in the middle of your auto insurance policy, your rates are likely not to increase until it is time to renew your auto insurance policy.
If you are paying monthly for your insurance, you cannot allow your policy to lapse do to non-payment.
When this happens most insurance companies will force you to start a new policy and cause your rates to increase because there is now a negligent driving ticket on your record.
However, paying your insurance in full or keeping it paid on time will give you time to shop around. This doesn’t mean that other insurance companies won’t rate you for a negligent driving ticket.
However, you may be able to find another insurance company that offers lower rates to at-risk drivers or at least a lower rate than your current insurance company.
It is always best to shop around for new auto insurance every year or so. This is because prices are constantly changing for customers.
Try using our free comparison tool to get instant online car insurance quotes from three to four
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Joel Ohman
Founder & CFP®
Joel Ohman is the CEO of a private equity backed digital media company. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, author, angel investor, and serial entrepreneur who loves creating new things, whether books or businesses. He has also previously served as the founder and resident CFP® of a national insurance agency, Real Time Health Quotes. He has an MBA from the University of South Florida. Jo...
Founder & CFP®
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about auto insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything auto insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by auto insurance experts.