If you’ve been issued a traffic ticket, you might be wondering, “how do traffic tickets affect insurance?” It’s not only monetary fines and points on your license that you have to be concerned about when you’ve been pulled over for a moving violation. A traffic ticket can significantly impact your car insurance premiums, resulting in higher monthly payments. This is why it is crucial to have a skillful attorney by your side who can fight the ticket — and potentially save you a substantial amount of money in the long term on your auto insurance.

How Do Traffic Tickets Affect Insurance in North Carolina?

North Carolina insurance points, also referred to as Safe Driver Incentive Plan points, is a point system that was instituted by the North Carolina Department of Insurance to determine and regulate the amount your auto insurance company can charge you for your car insurance. Under this system, drivers that accumulate insurance points may pay up to 340% more for their car insurance policies, depending on the traffic violation or offense. Points can also be assessed against a driver for certain “at-fault” accidents.

Typically, a speeding violation can result in anywhere from one to four insurance points — and a 30-80% insurance premium increase. However, the points that are issued by your insurance company aren’t just for speeding tickets. The following points and insurance premium increases are associated with the corresponding traffic violations:

• Following too closely — 2 insurance points, 55% increase
• Illegal passing — 2 insurance points, 55% increase
• Driving on the wrong side of the road — 2 insurance points, 55% increase
• Reckless driving — 4 insurance points, 90% increase
• Passing a stopped school bus — 4 insurance points, 90% increase
• Aggressive driving — 8 insurance points, 200% increase
• Highway racing — 10 insurance points, 260% increase
• Speeding to elude arrest — 10 insurance points, 260% increase

Critically, traffic-related offenses such as manslaughter, prearranged highway racing, hit-and-runs, and DWIs can result in 12 insurance points on your license — and a 340% insurance premium increase.

There are two exceptions to the insurance point system. For instance, if you received a ticket for exceeding the posted speed limit by no more than 10 miles per hour, you would not accrue any points as long as the violation did not occur in a school zone. You also would not accrue any points if you were in a minor car accident that resulted in $2,300 or less in damages, as long as it did not result in a conviction and no one else in your insurance household has a conviction or at-fault accident in the prior three years.

What’s the Difference Between Driver’s License Points and Car Insurance Points?

It’s important to understand the difference between the driver’s license points system and the insurance points system in North Carolina. While the law allows auto insurance companies to evaluate insurance points for the purpose of establishing premiums or insurance rates, the Department of Motor Vehicles keeps a record of license points. Accumulating too many points on your license can result in suspension or revocation. But it’s essential to understand that the driver’s license point system used by the DMW is completely separate from the points system used by the Department of Insurance.

How to Fight a Traffic Ticket and Avoid Affecting Your Insurance

If you’re worried about the issue of “how do traffic tickets affect insurance,” a knowledgeable traffic ticket attorney can help develop a strategy to reduce the impact. Importantly, you should not simply pay the fine — this is the equivalent of pleading guilty. Depending on the facts of your case, an attorney may be able to help you get your traffic ticket dismissed or the charges against you reduced. Since insurance points are only issued as a result of a conviction, not the underlying charge itself, a reduction or a dismissal of the ticket means that no points would be assessed.

Another option to avoid having a traffic ticket affect your insurance policy is to ask the court for a Prayer for Judgment Continued (PJC). If granted, no insurance points would accumulate for that particular violation. Nevertheless, it’s critical to be aware that a PJC can only be used to prevent insurance points from accumulating if you have not previously used one — and no one else on your family policy has used one in the past three years. A second PJC in one household within three years may cause points to be assessed for both traffic convictions.

Contact an Experienced North Carolina Traffic Ticket Attorney

If you’ve been issued a traffic ticket, it’s best to have a skillful attorney by your side who can help ensure you do not receive points on your license or insurance policy. The Johnston County traffic ticket attorneys at Reece & Reece, Attorneys at Law provide dependable representation and aggressive advocacy for a variety of traffic-related offenses. Call (919) 300-1249 to schedule a consultation and learn how we can assist you.