A rate increase will depend on your insurance company, your home state’s traffic laws, and the particular violation that you received.
How Out-of-State Traffic Tickets Reach Your Insurance Company.
- The Driver License Compact (DLC): Maryland participates in the Driver License Compact. This is an agreement between most of the states to share information about traffic violations.
- Reporting: As a rule, Maryland will report tickets to your home state’s driving history agency.
- Driving Record: Once reported, the traffic citation usually appears on your home state driving history. Insurance companies check these records periodically – usually every quarter.
How Tickets Cause Insurance Hikes.
- Type of Violation: Serious traffic charges like driving on a suspended license or driving without insurance are much more likely to affect your insurance premiums in a significant way. These types of violations carry heavy points. On the other hand, smaller minor infractions may carry fewer points. However, they can also cause your insurance rates to increase, but not as dramatically as a serious ticket.
- Point Assessment: Your home state may very likely count points for your Maryland violation the same way as if you received the ticket in your home state.
- Insurance Company Policies: Insurance companies have different triggers for when they will raise your premium. Some companies have a first ticket forgiveness policy. However, other companies will assess a rate hike even for a first time offense.
Ways to Avoid an Insurance Premium Increase from an Out-of-State Ticket.
Fighting the Ticket: One option would be to hire a local Maryland lawyer and contest the violation. A skilled Maryland traffic lawyer may be able to get the ticket scrubbed from your home state driving record. Not having the ticket show up on your driving history will typically allow you to avoid an insurance rate adjustment.