Reader’s Question:

I’ve gotten a traffic ticket here in Illinois, and this is on top of a prior one I had several months ago, would this be enough to cause my auto insurance premiums to rise?

Oliver B.

Elgin, IL

Yes, most of the time even just a single violation would already be enough to cause your auto insurance premiums to rise. It would still depend on how lenient your provider is. What you have to understand is that insurance companies are all about risks, in fact they built their industry on the business of risk. Traffic violations, getting arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI or DWI), unpaid speeding tickets and all other forms of moving violations only contributes to show your auto insurance provider that you have a higher risk of getting involved in car accidents. That means a higher likelihood that you would be filing for claims or for the company to pay huge amounts of money in the form of settlements to anyone you may happen to injure.

The higher your risk to insure, the more you are charged on auto insurance premiums to compensate for the said risk. Most auto insurance companies have rating systems that would determine how much increase you will have, depending on the gravity and the frequency of your offenses. You also have to remember that these records would stay under your name for the next three or five years so it would be wise not to get involved into further violations that would just make matters worst on your auto insurance coverage. You could compensate by taking defensive driving courses and by increasing your discount to help you save money on your premiums.

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