Does a Speeding Ticket Affect Your Insurance?

A single speeding ticket could increase the cost of your insurance by hundreds of dollars.
Drew Gula
By Drew Gula 
Updated
Edited by Ben Moore

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

If you’ve gotten a speeding ticket recently, you’re probably wondering if you’ll see an increase in your car insurance rates. The short answer is yes, you’ll likely pay more for car insurance after being convicted of speeding.

However, how much more you’ll pay can vary based on your driving history, location and other factors. If you do get a speeding ticket, you should compare car insurance quotes from several companies to see if you can find a cheaper policy.

How much does a speeding ticket affect your insurance?

The cost of car insurance typically goes up about 25% after a speeding ticket, according to NerdWallet’s analysis of full coverage rates. On average, a driver convicted of speeding will pay $2,693 a year for full coverage insurance, which is $546 more than a driver with a clean record.

Keep in mind, a speeding ticket could affect your insurance differently than it does another driver. Your premium increase might be more or less than theirs, depending on factors like where you live and who your insurer is. And while most insurers raise rates after two or more speeding tickets, our analysis found that some don’t raise rates at all after a single ticket.

Car insurance rates after a speeding ticket, by company

After a speeding ticket, the cheapest car insurance company for you may not be the same one that was cheapest before you got a ticket.

A few insurers in our analysis more than doubled their rates for drivers with a speeding ticket, while others seemed to shrug it off. Several smaller, regional insurers — including Idaho Farm Bureau, Maryland Auto Insurance and Umialik — showed no difference in car insurance rates for drivers with or without a speeding ticket.

Among the nation’s largest car insurance companies, State Farm had the smallest average rate hike after a speeding ticket: around $22 more a month. The biggest increase among large insurers came from Farmers.

Although it’s one of the largest insurers in the country, Liberty Mutual is not included in our analysis because it does not provide rate data.

USAA often has the cheapest rates available, but it is available only to active military, veterans and their families. Because of this, we include its numbers in this article but don’t rank it.

Here are the average rates we found for a 35-year-old driver with full coverage insurance after one speeding ticket, ranked from smallest average increase to largest.

Company

Average annual rate after a speeding ticket

Annual increase compared to a driver with a clean record

$1,693

$262

$1,868

$321

$2,270

$519

$2,580

$571

$2,585

$569

$2,661

$587

$3,483

$373

$3,568

$761

$1,351

$232

*USAA is available only to active military, veterans and their families.

If you’re looking for the cheapest rates, don’t be afraid to shop around. Taking the time to compare car insurance quotes can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars — even if you’ve had a few flashing lights in your rearview mirror.

Video preview image

Car insurance rates after a speeding ticket, by state

In Vermont, a speeding ticket may mean only an extra $19 per month on your car insurance premiums.

But in Michigan, where average car insurance costs are relatively high for drivers, you may have to shell out $124 a month more for coverage after you’re caught speeding.

To give you an idea of what to expect in your state, here are average rates and price increases for full coverage insurance after a speeding ticket.

State

Average annual rate after a speeding ticket

Annual increase compared to a driver with a clean record

$2,748

$479

$2,254

$299

$2,711

$557

$2,647

$487

$2,301

$643

$3,493

$795

$3,196

$593

$3,064

$463

$4,417

$812

$3,123

$613

$1,830

$199

$1,640

$291

$2,244

$497

$1,838

$406

$1,909

$313

$2,848

$558

$4,110

$753

$4,232

$833

$1,647

$324

$3,694

$695

$1,758

$365

$4,721

$1,492

$2,417

$487

$2,490

$541

$3,275

$568

$3,446

$614

$2,195

$407

$3,686

$628

$1,883

$325

$3,677

$868

$2,548

$420

$3,228

$627

$2,218

$731

$2,288

$419

$1,776

$352

$3,022

$583

$2,430

$542

$2,632

$365

$4,161

$861

$3,495

$780

$1,897

$304

$2,521

$524

$2,721

$323

$2,851

$611

$1,601

$224

$2,528

$606

$2,186

$427

$2,660

$400

$2,502

$427

$2,057

$375

$1,999

$446

Minimum vs. full coverage after a speeding ticket

If you have full coverage auto insurance and you don’t like the price you see after a speeding ticket, you may want to consider reducing your coverage. Minimum coverage car insurance is typically cheaper than full coverage.

Here are the average annual rates for car insurance after a speeding ticket:

  • $2,693 for full coverage.

  • $868 for minimum coverage.

Think carefully before you decrease your coverage, however. If you change to a policy that only meets your state’s minimum requirements, then you won’t have comprehensive and collision coverage. This means if you cause a crash, your insurance won’t help pay for damage to your car. It might make sense if your vehicle isn’t worth much, but if you have a car loan or lease, your lender likely requires you to keep full coverage.

Methodology

NerdWallet averaged rates based on public filings obtained by pricing analytics company Quadrant Information Services. We examined rates for men and women for all ZIP codes in any of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Although it’s one of the largest insurers in the country, Liberty Mutual is not included in our rates analysis due to a lack of publicly available information.

In our analysis, “good drivers” had no moving violations on record; a “good driving” discount was included for this profile. Our “good” and “poor” credit rates are based on credit score approximations and do not account for proprietary scoring criteria used by insurance providers.

These are average rates, and your rate will vary based on your personal details, state and insurance provider.

Sample drivers had the following coverage limits:

  • $100,000 bodily injury liability coverage per person.

  • $300,000 bodily injury liability coverage per crash.

  • $50,000 property damage liability coverage per crash.

  • $100,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage per person.

  • $300,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage per crash.

  • Collision coverage with $1,000 deductible.

  • Comprehensive coverage with $1,000 deductible.

In states where required, minimum additional coverages were added. We used the same assumptions for all other driver profiles, with the following exceptions:

  • For drivers with a ticket, we added a single speeding violation for driving 16 mph over the speed limit.

  • For drivers with minimum coverage, we adjusted the numbers above to reflect only the minimum coverage required by law in the state.

  • We changed the credit tier from “good” to “poor” as reported to the insurer to see rates for drivers with poor credit. In states where credit isn’t taken into account, we only used rates for “good credit.”

We used a 2020 Toyota Camry L in all cases and assumed 12,000 annual miles driven. We analyzed rates for the following ages: 20, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60 and 70. However, only rates for drivers aged 35 were used in these comparisons.

These are rates generated through Quadrant Information Services. Your own rates will be different.

Get more smart money moves – straight to your inbox
Sign up and we’ll send you Nerdy articles about the money topics that matter most to you along with other ways to help you get more from your money.