Can Parking Tickets Affect Your Car Insurance Rates?
Many people who are concerned about their car insurance coverage will be worried when they get a parking ticket because they think that it might have a negative effect on their car insurance rate. In most cases, it is very rare for a parking ticket to have an effect on your car insurance, or even on future car insurance quotes. This is because there is a big difference between a moving violation and a parking ticket. Here are the details on the tickets that will, as well as the ones that will not, affect your driving record and car insurance coverage.
Parking tickets do not normally have any effect at all on your insurance rate because they are not reported to the insurance companies. In fact, it is very rare that parking tickets will affect your driver’s license or insurance in any way, unless you completely ignore them and do not pay the fine. If you have unpaid parking tickets, you will not be able to get your license plate renewal sticker when it is time for renewal. A driver who does not have a currently registered license plate may not be able to maintain their insurance until they get the car current on its registration. However, it will not normally cause a raise in insurance rates. Your insurance company will not raise your rates simply because you got a parking ticket because they will not receive notice of these more minor offenses.
Parking tickets and moving violations, as well as other citations, are viewed as very different things by the insurance companies. If you have been issued any type of moving violation, such as a speeding ticket, or you have received a citation for a serious offense, such as DUI, it is very likely that your car insurance company will get notice of that. As a result, your rates may well be negatively impacted. Your car insurance quotes will be higher if you have moving violations on your record, but they will not be affected by parking tickets. If you are getting a quote from a new company, it is common practice for them to get a copy of your driving record to evaluate whether or not they consider you to be a good driver. They will never see the parking tickets, but they will certainly see other more serious violations.
As long as parking tickets are taken care of promptly by paying the associated fine, they will not affect your car insurance rates. The main violations that cause raised insurance rates are moving violations, such as speeding tickets and DUIs.
