One of the primary factors that increase car insurance rates is your driving record. Having a few speeding tickets can drive up prices significantly, and the higher rates may apply for three years or more. This can result in the increased cost of insuring your vehicles actually costing considerably more than the fine you’ll pay.
Impact of citations and accidents on insurance rates in Detroit
The illustration below illustrates how speeding tickets and fender-benders can impact insurance costs for each age group. The data assumes a married female driver, comprehensive and collision coverage, $500 deductibles, and no policy discounts are applied.
As you can see by the data above, two speeding tickets raise rates approximately 41%. For a 40-year-old driver, this results in an additional $1,400 per year in insurance costs. The original fines may only be a few hundred dollars, but if your company imposes this surcharge for three years, you will pay an additional $4,200 over that time period.
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If you happen to also get into a couple of at-fault accidents, then your rates could increase by an astounding 212%. Again for the 40-year-old driver, this results in insurance rates that are over $10,000 a year with two speeding tickets and two at-fault accidents on their driving record.
The moral of this story is driving safe and being attentive to traffic laws goes a long way in reducing your car insurance bill. Detroit drivers already pay high rates, and having a few blemishes on their driving record makes auto insurance coverage almost unaffordable.
Compare cheap Detroit car insurance quotes
If you happen to have sky-high car insurance rates, one of the best ways to save is to shop around. Just because your rates are high doesn’t mean there isn’t a cheaper company available. Detroit drivers have a lot of choices when insuring their vehicles, and some companies are cheaper for drivers with imperfect driving records.