A traffic ticket can stay on your record for up to 10 years but will typically only affect your auto insurance rates for 3 to 5 years, depending on the insurance company. 

When evaluating your risk factors one of the areas that an insurance company looks at is moving violations.  Most insurance companies include a surcharge for moving violations such as speeding, disregarding a stop signal and tailgating to name a few.  This surcharge will continue for 3 years with most companies, while other companies continue a surcharge for up to 5 years. 

The amount of the surcharge varies depending on the number of tickets, the severity of the ticket, how recent the ticket was and if there are other negative risk factors on the policy.  The surcharge normally decreases over time as the ticket date gets older and older.

Traffic ticket divergent programs do not normally affect how an insurance company surcharges for tickets.  If the ticket shows up on the Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) the insurance company still sees this as a risk factor and will apply the same surcharge. 

Seat belt violations and parking tickets are not considered to be moving violations and normally do not affect your risk factors thus they do not normally affect your insurance rates.

If you’ve had a ticket in the last 5 years but have remained with the same insurance company, you may be paying too much for your auto insurance.  For an auto insurance rate contact Bragg Insurance Agency at 317-758-5828 or visit our website at www.bragginsurance.com