I remember a long, long time ago, soon after I got my license…
I rolled through a stop sign. There was a cop there. He stopped me. He gave me a ticket.
D’oh!!!
I was 16 years old and nervous. I was more concerned about my parents getting mad than anything else. I mean, I was 16 years old and I just got a ticket. I was afraid of how this would negatively affect my parents’ car insurance premiums.
So, I asked the officer, “Do you know how this will affect my car insurance rates.” The officer replied, “It won’t. The ticket has no demerit points, so it won’t affect your insurance.”
Phew!!!
A few months pass. Then my parents get their car insurance renewal in the mail. Lo and behold, my ticket is there. Even worse, it’s affecting the rates.
How?!? Why?!?
How could this be? The cop told me that this would not affect my car insurance because there were no demerit points.
The cop was wrong
Well, let me tell you something about cops… A lot of them think they know everything there is to know about a lot of things, including insurance. But they don’t. I mean, they don’t get trained about how the tickets that they give out affect peoples’ car insurance. I know this for a fact. I used to be a cop. I got the training.
All tickets affect insurance rates
Here’s the thing – ALL TICKETS AFFECT INSURANCE. This is the case, whether or not there are demerit points.
Now, some insurance companies may not count one or even two minor tickets, depending on the rest of your driving record. But, every ticket shows up on your driver’s abstract, whether there were demerit points or not. And, all tickets will be accounted for on insurance.
Also, insurance companies have three different classifications for tickets – Minor, major, and serious. Each classification affects your insurance in a different way. For example, a speeding ticket is minor, a conviction for driving without insurance is a major, and careless driving is a serious. None of the classifications take demerit points into account either.
And if you don’t know, now you know 🙂
