Does a Red Light Ticket Affect Insurance in California?

according to the state of california department of motor vehicles, if you run a red light in the state of california and receive a red light ticket, a point is automatically awarded to your driver’s license.

This is true whether you were ticketed by a real police officer or a red light camera.

Reading: How long do traffic tickets affect insurance in california

but this is not the worst news. Unfortunately, in California, all citations for traffic violations are a matter of public record and can be accessed and viewed by anyone, including your auto insurance provider.

Car insurance companies operate based on risk algorithms. risk algorithms, which can vary from insurer to insurer, in turn govern how much you pay in car insurance premiums.

Every time a point is added to your driver, that’s basically like sending a message to your insurer to say “I’m a higher risk driver today than I was yesterday.” When you increase your risk, you increase the chances that your insurer will have to make a claims payment.

Car insurance companies hate making claims payments. they will charge you more in premiums if they think it will cost them more in claims payments.

Of course, your auto insurer may not check on your driver more than once or twice a year, so you may have a grace period before your premiums go up.

In most cases, this grace period also gives you time to take action and have your ticket dismissed before it can potentially increase your premium costs.

How does a red light violation affect insurance in California?

According to value penguin, getting a point on your driver’s license for any reason has the potential to increase your auto insurance premiums by up to 92 percent.

However, most auto insurance providers have algorithms that look at other factors than simply adding a point to your driver’s license. The type of ticket you receive, how often you receive tickets, and specific information about each citation can also affect how high your premiums go.

In the state of California, failure to obey a traffic signal, such as a red light, typically results in a 20% net increase in auto insurance premiums. You typically won’t see the fare increase until a new calendar year begins, which is often the time you’ve completely forgotten you even got that red-light ticket.

But your insurance company never forgets. In California, points remain on your license for at least three years. That means three years of increased premium rates due to your red light ticket.

How much does a red light ticket affect insurance in California?

nerdwallet states that the average cost for a single driver to obtain insurance coverage nationwide is $1621 per year or $135 per month.

You can pay more or less depending on all sorts of factors. But just for this general example, let’s say you now pay $135 per month for your auto insurance premium.

but then you get a red light ticket. Suddenly your renewal period arrives and with it comes your new premium quote. now you’re paying 20 percent more because a point was added to your license. Your monthly premium is now $162, which means you’ll pay $1,944 per year for the next three years.

This is an increase of $323 just because a point was added to your license!

How can you get your California red light ticket removed?

At this point, your mind has probably started to churn with ideas of ways to avoid getting a red light ticket.

The good news is that this is possible and much more affordable than paying those higher auto insurance premiums!

The method is called trial by written declaration. it’s fast, easy and all online. you don’t have to make phone calls or stand in front of a judge in a courtroom.

for a one-time fee of $99 (or buy a membership for $59/year) you can use trial by written declaration to have your red light ticket dismissed, make sure no points are charged on your license, recover your bail fees and keep your insurance premiums where they belong: at the current rate.

California courts love trials by written declaration. that’s why the process is printed on the back of all traffic citations. but since it requires a written defense rather than a verbal statement, you want to make sure you choose your words wisely!

This is where getdismissed comes into play. Our team of experts has been helping clients get traffic tickets dismissed through trial by written declaration for years. we can help you too.

why use getdismissed to get your california red light ticket removed?

Our service is fast, easy, reliable and stress-free. simply create your account, upload a snapshot of your traffic citation, tell us what happened in your own words, and wait for our email.

then reviews and signs your written defense documents, includes the bail fee, and mails it to the court. It may take up to 90 days to receive a response. in the meantime, you are free to return to life as usual.

try us and see how easy it is!