Do Parking Tickets Affect Car Insurance Rates?
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If you park your vehicle in an area where it is not allowed, such as in front of a fire hydrant or bicycle lane, you may get a parking ticket. You typically have to pay a fine, but you might also wonder if there are additional consequences. Do parking tickets affect insurance rates?
Learn how parking tickets can impact your auto insurance and how to keep your rates as low as possible.
Are Parking Tickets Reported to Insurance Companies?
Your insurance provider changes your insurance rates based on what information the provider can access. If your provider does not know something, it won’t cause your rates to go up.
When you get a parking ticket, the ticket generally goes on your vehicle’s registration, not your driver’s license. The officer issuing the ticket has no way of knowing who’s driving, so the ticket is linked to the vehicle itself, not a specific driver.
Municipalities typically don’t report these tickets to the state Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV), either. They don’t appear on your driving record, which is what your insurance company has access to. So, do parking tickets go on your insurance record? Generally, the answer is no.
By comparison, police do report traffic tickets for moving violations like speeding to the DMV, so they are part of your driving record. Insurance providers can see your driving record and adjust your rates when you get these citations.
Moving violations that go on your driving record and so may affect your insurance rates include:
- Speeding
- Driving under the influence
- Failing to stop at a stop sign
- Texting while driving
- Running a red light
- Illegally using the carpool lane
- Failing to use your turn signals
Your auto insurance rates may increase if you get caught committing any of these moving violations.
How Parking Tickets Can Affect Premium Rates
Although insurance providers typically don’t know when you get a ticket, parking tickets do affect your insurance premium rates indirectly if you fail to pay the fines.
If you have unpaid parking tickets, they may affect your credit score. Since credit scores impact insurance rates, parking tickets could indirectly cause your premiums to go up.
Luckily, this is fairly uncommon. Unpaid parking tickets only appear on your credit reports if the original ticket amount is over $100 and it goes to collections. In that case, the collection account would show up on your credit report for the next seven years as part of your payment history. Having collection accounts on your credit report is likely to bring down your credit score somewhat, so be careful to pay any ticketing fees before they go to collections.
Impact of Parking Tickets on Driving Records
Unlike moving violations, non-moving violations like parking tickets generally don’t appear on your driving record. Don’t get confused by the difference between a citation vs. ticket. You can get tickets for moving violations, citations for non-moving violations, and vice-versa. The two terms are more or less interchangeable, so neither a parking ticket nor a parking violation goes on your driving record.
However, unpaid tickets can lead to the DMV blocking your vehicle registration renewal. If you then drive with an expired registration, that can go on your driving record. Your insurance company could find out and possibly increase your rates.
To avoid these problems, pay any parking ticket or other moving violation fines as soon as you get ticketed, unless you plan to fight the ticket. You don’t want to accidentally forget to pay the fine and have it block a vehicle registration.
The Role of Driving History and Credit Scores in Insurance Costs
Doing your best to maintain a clean driving history is important because it directly affects your auto insurance costs. If you avoid at-fault accidents, traffic violations, and a license suspension, your insurance rates will likely be lower than for someone who does not have a clean driving history.
Managing Parking Fines Effectively
Keep these tips in mind to manage parking tickets or avoid them entirely:
- Look for signs. Pay attention to signs while parking your vehicle and become familiar with local parking laws.
- Review the ticket. If you receive a parking ticket, review it and decide whether you’re going to pay it or challenge it.
- Contest the ticket. If you think there was a mistake with the ticket, you can contest it. Gather evidence and follow the protocol in the jurisdiction where your car was parked.
The Importance of Parking Ticket Management for Insurance Rates
Your best choice to keep car insurance costs down is to drive and park responsibly so you don’t get any tickets, including parking tickets. A clean driving record and no unpaid parking tickets help ensure you get better auto insurance rates.
It can still be a challenge to find the best rates on your own when insurance options vary and prices change constantly. The best way to find the right insurance is by comparing all your options. Get a free custom comparison from EverQuote today.