Does Court Supervision For Traffic Tickets Affect Car Insurance Rates?
Nobody likes getting a traffic ticket, but chances are you’ve dealt with at least one over the course of your driving career. The cost of the ticket itself is bad enough, but the damage done to your driving record (and your car insurance quotes) is even more painful. Luckily, there are systems set up to prevent good drivers from taking too big of a hit due to a single ticket. Court supervision, for instance, is a popular option among drivers looking to limit the effect of a ticket on car insurance rates, and it’s certainly worth consideration if you’ve recently been pulled over for a minor driving violation.
Court supervision effectively removes a single ticket from a driver’s record, provided that the driver doesn’t receive any other traffic citations within a certain length of time. The length of time can vary from state to state, county to county, and judge to judge. In most cases, court supervision will last about six months. Court supervision is not available on all traffic tickets; the more serious the violation, the smaller the chance that court supervision will be an option for the driver.
Drivers often wonder if car insurance rates will still go up despite court supervision. This is unlikely, because although your car insurance company will almost instantly find out about your ticket, they’ll also see that the ticket isn’t going to affect your driving record. Many states have insurance laws that prevent car insurance companies from raising their premiums for a driver after court supervision is granted. Therefore, it’s a bit of a no brainer–you may have to pay additional costs for court fees, but those costs will quickly be covered by the money that you’ll save on auto insurance. If court supervision is available on a citation you’ve received, you should always apply for it by making an admission of guilt to the court of the county where the traffic ticket was issued. Ask specifically for court supervision, and in most cases, it will be granted.
If you’re looking for a good car insurance quote after receiving a traffic ticket, you’ll be much more likely to find reasonable premiums with court supervision. When the option isn’t available, drivers can still use a number of methods to find a lower quote. For instance, many states offer defensive driving classes that can lower car insurance rates. Comparison shopping online can also be very helpful. Don’t let a ticket depress you too much–talk to your insurance agent, and if your premiums are about to go up, take the time to investigate car insurance quotes from other companies.
