Study: Car insurance premiums jump 18% after one ticket

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U.S. drivers saw their auto insurance premiums rise an average of 18% in 2010 if they had a single moving violation that showed up on their record, insurance.com says in a new report.

Two moving violations on your record meant an average rate increase of 34% compared with drivers who had no violations, the website found, based on a study of 397,000 insurance quotes it generated last year.

At three violations your annual premium would be 53% higher than what an unticketed driver would pay.

The average annual auto insurance premium for drivers with no violations was $1,119 last year, insurance.com said. That rose to $1,318 for drivers with one violation, $1,497 for two violations and $1,713 for three.

Then there’s the cost of the ticket itself, which in California now can easily exceed $200 for moving violations.

In California, if you’re eligible for traffic school you may avoid having a ticket show up on your record. But drivers generally aren’t eligible if they’ve gone to traffic school for another ticket issued in the previous 18 months.

-- Tom Petruno

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