I already have two speeding tickets, but they were not in my state which is Indiana. I got one speeding ticket in Nevada and the other one in Texas. Is that going to be “noticed” by my auto insurance company here in Indiana?

Lizzie

Fort Wayne, IN

Lizzie, I can see that the DLC or Driver License Compact is going to be a problem for you. You see, Indiana, Nevada and Texas are signatories of the said compact. Members of the compact agree to send to each other traffic violations done by each respective state’s motorists in their state. The DLC’s theme, “One Driver, One License, One Record” basically tells you a lot. Short version: your speeding violations, after they’re processed by Texas and Nevada will be sent to Indiana. It will be noticed by your auto insurance company come renewal time when they check on your driving history.

Now, for the speeding violation to appear in your driving record and to be transmitted to your home state, you will have to be convicted of the speeding charge first. If you dispute this charge in court and win, this won’t go to your driving record.

You also have some options to make the ticket go away. In some states taking a driving lesson, defensive driving lesson, perhaps, would persuade the state to have the ticket dismissed. This is, of course, depends on the gravity of the offense. You should ask your local government to know more about this, so you’d know what to do if ever this happens again.

My son will be studying abroad and will not be driving his vehicle for a year (his car is registered and insured under his name). Can he take off the insurance in his car in Bloomington, Indiana and place the insurance back when he returns?

Paul

Bloomington, IN

It will depend upon the state laws and where the vehicle is garaged if your son can take the car insurance off of the automobile. In many states if your vehicle is registered you need to have car insurance placed on it with at least the state’s minimum car insurance requirements. So your son may need to turn in his license plates and registration in order to take insurance off his vehicle so he will not be penalized by the state where he lives in.

In most states if you just remove the insurance on a car without turning in your license plates and registration this will be considered a lapse in your car insurance and may penalized such as registration and license suspension and fines.

It will likely increase your son’s car insurance rates when he comes back if he has a lapse on his car insurance for a year. Your son needs to talk to his car insurance company to know exactly how much his car insurance rates may rise from the lapse in car insurance policy.

When do you inform your insurance provider in you received a traffic ticket? After you receive the ticket or when you go to court? I need to find a great rate on Indiana auto insurance, where and whom should I talk to?

Robert

Elkhart, IN

At renewal typically each insurer re-underwrites your policy and/or offers a renewal rate for your auto insurance policy. At this time, you should inform them about any new traffic tickets.

There may be some insurance policy guidelines or specifications that require you to inform them of traffic violations during your insurance policy period, but that is mainly for risks or accidents that they may be responsible to help cover you.

Generally, moving violations go on your driving record, so that an insurance carrier in Elkhart, IN can see them when they run your Motor Vehicle Record (MVR), after you had plead guilty or otherwise are found guilty.