premiums go up by an average of 24.6% after a speeding ticket. Compare new car insurance quotes right before your policy renews to minimize the impact of your ticket on your insurance.

High rates last 3-5 years. A speeding ticket won’t stay on your insurance forever. In most cases, you’ll see your premium go back down after three to five years.

One of the best ways to lower your car insurance after an accident is to track your driving. The best offense against high insurance rates is a good defense. Use a telematics app to improve your safe driving habits and avoid future speeding incidents.

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Your insurance will go up after a speeding ticket. Here’s what to do right now.

A speeding ticket will almost always affect your car insurance costs—even if it’s your first ticket and you’re usually a safe driver.

A first speeding ticket can raise auto insurance rates by an average of 25%, depending on your state and insurer. Your insurance rate increase will come in the form of a surcharge—an additional rate that’s added to your policy temporarily to account for your added risk.

To minimize the impact on your insurance, follow these steps after any speeding ticket:

Check your insurance renewal date

Compare new insurance quotes

Schedule your new policy to start before your old one renews

Do you have to pay your speeding ticket?

In general, yes. Unless you can prove that you weren’t speeding or that the ticket was the result of officer error or faulty radar equipment, you’re going to have to pay your fine. But you may be able to reduce or delay your fine if you:

Request a deferral. In some states, you can plead guilty but keep the ticket off your record for a certain amount of time (typically one year). It won’t prevent a rate hike, but it can delay it if you’re going through a rough financial patch.

Negotiate a lower fine. Appear in court and talk to the judge about reducing your fine. You’ll still need to pay court costs, but this could lower or remove your fine, especially if you had a good reason for speeding (such as a medical emergency).

Be warned A first-time speeding ticket will raise your rates, but it’s unlikely that your auto insurance company will drop you altogether. However, your policy could be canceled if you rack up a high number of traffic tickets—or if your speed violation is linked to a more serious charge, like reckless driving or DUI.

Step 1: Check your insurance renewal date.

Your insurance company won’t check your

motor vehicle report (MVR)

until your policy is

up for renewal

. That’s when they’ll find out about your ticket and raise your rate—but until then, you keep paying your current rate.

Step 2: Compare quotes.

When you receive your insurance renewal notice, check the renewal rate, which will include the surcharge your provider added to your previous rate.

With that rate in mind,

start comparing new quotes

from other insurers to see how they compare to what you’d pay if you renewed your current policy. Be sure to provide accurate information about your recent ticket to ensure that you’re getting the most realistic quotes.

The

Jerry

app simplifies the process of comparing quotes by putting all your information in one place, but you can also request quotes directly from insurers or work with a local insurance agent.

Learn More:

How to shop for auto insurance

Step 3: Schedule your new policy to start before your old one renews.

If you’re able to find a lower rate from a different insurer, it’s time to switch. Just make sure that your new insurance policy is activated before you

cancel your old policy

—and don’t switch too early! You want to keep paying your pre-ticket rate as long as possible.

If you found quotes through the

Jerry

app, you can make a payment right away and schedule the coverage to start up to a month in advance. You can also turn on automatic reshops, which will deliver new quotes as soon as your new policy is up for renewal and notify you if a new insurer in your area offers potential savings.

If you found quotes through the

Jerry

app, you can make a payment right away and schedule the coverage to start up to a month in advance.

You can also turn on automatic reshops, which will deliver new quotes as soon as your new policy is up for renewal and notify you if a new insurer in your area offers potential savings.

Find the best car insurance after a ticket

How much will your insurance go up after a speeding ticket?

The amount your car insurance premium increases after a speeding ticket depends on several factors, including:

Your driving history: If it’s your first violation and you have a generally

clean driving record

, your insurer is less likely to add a major rate increase to your policy.

The time since your last violation: If you’ve gotten a ticket in the last three to five years, expect higher rates. But if it’s been 10 years since your last traffic violation, your rate will be less impacted.

How fast you were going: Driving a mile or two over the speed limit could get you a ticket, but it won’t raise your rate by as much as a ticket for speeding 10 to 20 mph over the limit.

Where you live: As the table below shows, the average increase after a speeding ticket varies from state to state.

State	Average monthly cost of full coverage without a speeding ticket	Average monthly cost after speeding ticket	Average rate increase after speeding ticket (per year)
Alabama	$174	$227	$636
Arizona	$199	$264	$783
Arkansas	$184	$257	$871
California	$203	$286	$995
Colorado	$204	$257	$636
Connecticut	$214	$256	$508
Delaware	$198	$255	$688
Florida	$223	$285	$744
Georgia	$240	$308	$823
Idaho	$142	$173	$372
Illinois	$166	$222	$666
Indiana	$141	$195	$648
Iowa	$136	$169	$396
Kansas	$159	$194	$420
Kentucky	$209	$278	$827
Louisiana	$278	$386	$1,296
Maine	$157	$196	$464
Maryland	$234	$301	$813
Massachusetts	$174	$219	$568
Michigan	$189	$264	$900
Minnesota	$171	$222	$605
Mississippi	$180	$228	$574
Missouri	$166	$201	$425
Montana	$140	$174	$406
Nebraska	$191	$244	$645
Nevada	$239	$301	$746
New Hampshire	$139	$176	$446
New Jersey	$251	$363	$1,353
New Mexico	$163	$200	$449
New York	$263	$316	$637
North Carolina	$263	$370	$1,286
North Dakota	$145	$175	$352
Ohio	$152	$196	$538
Oklahoma	$192	$239	$567
Oregon	$176	$229	$638
Pennsylvania	$172	$201	$347
Rhode Island	$232	$306	$885
South Carolina	$232	$285	$639
South Dakota	$196	$249	$638
Tennessee	$164	$214	$599
Texas	$191	$222	$372
Utah	$152	$189	$444
Vermont	$145	$177	$377
Virginia	$190	$249	$706
Washington	$202	$268	$795
West Virginia	$251	$317	$794
Wisconsin	$139	$193	$644
Wyoming	$143	$185	$499

Where’d we get these numbers? To find the average rate increase after a speeding ticket in every state, Jerry’s editorial team researched the average rate increase after a speeding ticket using expert sources from Forbes, NerdWallet, ValuePenguin, WalletHub, Liberty Mutual, The Zebra, and CarInsurance.com. We averaged the rate increase data from these sources and applied it to average rate data derived from thousands of real quotes drivers found through Jerry to determine average premium drivers pay after a speeding ticket in each state.

Which insurance company has the lowest rate increase after a speeding ticket?

We studied publicly available data on rate increases after speeding tickets and found that Allstate has the lowest average rate hike after a speeding ticket at just 15%.

Insurance company	Average rate increase after a speeding ticket
Allstate	15%
USAA	17%
American Family	22%
Nationwide	26%
State Farm	26%
Farmers	31%
Auto-Owners	36%
Travelers	37%
GEICO	38%
Progressive	43%

Do any companies forgive speeding tickets?

Four major insurance companies offer the option to forgive your first minor moving violation, such as a speeding ticket:

Travelers: The Travelers Responsible Driver Plan includes accident forgiveness and minor violation forgiveness, which covers one minor traffic infraction in a specified period. You can add this perk to a full coverage Travelers policy if it’s offered in your state.

Farmers: Farmers forgives minor traffic violations for customers who have been insured with Farmers for at least six months—but only if it’s a first offense.

Nationwide: Nationwide’s accident forgiveness product offers optional minor violation forgiveness and can be added to your policy in some areas.

State Auto: In some states, new

State Auto

customers who have been accident- and violation-free for 35 months can add minor violation forgiveness to their policy.

When does car insurance go down after a speeding ticket?

A speeding ticket usually

stays on your insurance for three to five years

, depending on your state laws, your insurance company’s policies, and the number of points on your record. Some companies will decrease your surcharge year by year if you stay accident- and violation-free.

However, a speeding ticket can slow down the cost reduction that good drivers see over time as their experience grows. Normally, insurance rates go down steadily from ages 16 to 25, with a significant decrease once you enter your late 20s. But driving violations correlate to higher risk and slow down the standard rate decrease for young motorists.

Practice safe driving to speed up your rate decrease

Speeding tickets raise your rate because they increase the risk of an accident. Learning safe driving habits could reduce your risk factor and set you up for future

insurance discounts

If you’re confident in your driving skills: Look into your insurer’s

safe driver discounts

. Most insurers offer a telematics program that allows you to track your driving in exchange for a discounted rate at your next renewal.

If you’re not sure you’re eligible: Start by tracking a few trips with a telematics app that’s not linked to your insurance—like the

Jerry

app. You can get a safe driving score, analyze which unsafe behaviors you’re most prone to, and find simple tips to help you improve your on-road habits. Jerry doesn’t report your driving to your insurance company, so it’s a risk-free way to work on your driving.

Get your safe driving score today

Why do speeding tickets affect car insurance?

Car insurance companies base insurance rates in part on your driving record, which includes any traffic violations or accidents you’ve been involved in.

To insurers, your driving history is a measure of your driving safety. Responsible drivers with clean driving records are less likely to cause accidents and generate insurance claims—and therefore less likely to cost their insurance company money.

When you get a speeding ticket, it’s added to your official driving record. When it comes time to renew your auto policy, your insurance provider will check your driving record for any new infractions, and they’ll recalculate your rate based on what they find.

Did you know?

A speeding violation isn’t just a minor technicality: it carries real-world risks. Nearly one-third of traffic fatalities are caused by speed-related crashes, according to data from the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

As of 2021, speeding fatalities reached a 14-year high in the US—and insurance premiums have gone up as a result.

FAQs

How does a speeding ticket affect your insurance?

Because speeding tickets correlate to higher accident rates, the cost of auto insurance goes up by an average of 24.6% after a speeding ticket. That’s an average increase of $655 per year.

Do parking tickets affect car insurance?

Because parking tickets are non-moving violations, they typically won’t affect your car insurance rates at all. The exception is when nonpayment of a parking ticket leads to trouble renewing your car’s registration—in that case, you may be unable to renew your insurance coverage and could run into a serious lapse.

How do I keep a speeding ticket off my record in Louisiana?

The best ways to keep a speeding ticket off your driving record in Louisiana are to request a mitigation hearing or ask the court if you can take a defensive driving course to have your charge dismissed. Neither option is guaranteed, but you’ll have a better chance if it’s a first offense and your driving record is otherwise clean.

How much does 1 point affect insurance in California?

Under the California DMV points system, a speeding ticket adds a single point to your driver’s license. While that might not sound like much, that speeding ticket point could raise the cost of car insurance by an average of $995 per year.