Reader’s Question:

I’m about to get my vehicle insurance for the first time. According to my friends, vehicle insurance companies will look at my driving records when they set my car insurance rates. Can you tell me more about it?

Abigail

Baltimore, MD

That’s correct Abigail.

If you’re doing your homework on how to get cheap vehicle insurance, you may have encountered the tip about how driving record affects your vehicle insurance rates over and over again. And the reason for that is pretty simple. Your driving records mirrors you as a driver. The more traffic tickets you have, the higher your risk is for vehicle insurance companies. Thus the higher your risk means the higher the chance that you may be involved in an accident. Therefore, vehicle insurance carriers will charge you with higher vehicle insurance premiums.

Vehicle insurance providers take into consideration your driving records whether you like it or not. Vehicle insurance carriers will run a motor vehicle report (MVR) on your name. This MVR will list all your traffic offenses in which you were ticketed depending on the date that the insurer is searching.

In some states like in Pennsylvania, a no-fault state, it would not show on your MVR whether you caused an accident or not. It will simply state that you were involved in an accident as the driver.

Does that sound unfair? Well you do have an option. All you have to do is to get a report from the police department about the incident. Remember, if you live in Pennsylvania, its’ important to do this or else vehicle insurance carriers will assume it is your fault thus they may charge you with expensive vehicle insurance rates.

If you are wondering on how long your driving record will affect your vehicle insurance rates that would be for about three years. In most cases, vehicle insurance companies do a research on your driving record from 3 years back. However, there are some vehicle insurance providers who would look for 5 years back on your driving record.

Take good care of your driving record to ensure getting cheap vehicle insurance rates. You can also get your affordable vehicle insurance rates from the Internet. So it’s good that you start shopping for vehicle insurance quotes now.