How Long Will Traffic Ticket Affect My Car Insurance Rates?

Q: For how long will a traffic ticket affect my car insurance rates? I have a dui charge on my record.

A: If you have a moving violation on your traffic ticket, then in most cases it will remain on your driving record for around three to five years. Although many car insurance companies only keep on using it to rate your insurance for three years after the fact, many companies will do this for five years to affect your  insurance. It really depends on the car insurance company you have with. As for your SR22 – DUI charge itself, if you got it because of a DUI, then that will likely affect your insurance rates for around three to five years as well, but it will be on your driving record for 10 years and it is still possible for it to affect your rates during that time.

If you do receive a moving violation, then even if you are guilty you should do your best to try to fight it when you arrive at your court date, because if you don’t you could see your days of cheap SR22 insurance go away. Many car insurance companies enact stiff penalties for people who have moving violations, and things such as speeding tickets have been know to cause rises of as much as 25% in car insurance rates.