Driver’s License Check: What’s On Your Driving Record?

A clean driving record is a driving record with no moving violations, accidents, driving-related convictions or points from the past 3-7 years. The length of time that drivers need to have a clean driving record depends on the state, the type of violation, and the purpose of the record check. For instance, many insurance companies only look back three years, whereas certain employers may disqualify candidates with a DUI from seven years ago.

Insurance companies and employers are more forgiving of smaller violations like speeding tickets. As a result, one speeding ticket over a three year period will have a smaller impact on your insurance premium than multiple infractions or a serious conviction like a DUI.

What Does a Clean Driving Record Mean for You?

Having a clean driving record will help you pay lower rates for car insurance, since your driving history is one of the main things insurers take into account when calculating your premium. Your insurance rate is based on how likely insurance companies think you are to file a claim and cost them money, so a clean driving record suggests that you are a safe driver and therefore less likely to get into an accident.

In addition, a clean driving record keeps you on good terms with your state's DMV, since states suspend or revoke the licenses of drivers with severe or repeated offenses. For instance, states like Rhode Island and Washington automatically suspend the licenses of those convicted of a DUI. Finally, a clean driving record is also useful if you are applying for a job that requires driving in a professional capacity.  

How to See If You Have a Clean Driving Record

Driving records are available via state DMVs in the form of a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR), which insurance companies access when you get a quote or renew your policy. If you've recently gotten a ticket, been in an accident, or had your insurance rates increase, it might be worth checking your own MVR for errors and to see how long your offenses will continue to affect you. Most state DMVs allow you to request your own MVR on their website for a small fee.

Tips for Keeping – or Getting – a Clean Driving Record

If you already have a clean driving record, ensuring it stays that way will prevent your premiums from rising. In certain states, you can remove tickets or points from your record by attending traffic school for an eligible offense. Sometimes, you can even take a driving class to prevent insurance companies from ever seeing a ticket or violation.

Cleaning up your record using traffic school is also a good way to prevent more serious consequences in the future, like having your license suspended. Plus, for certain insurers and states, points or tickets can disqualify you from a good driver discount, so taking traffic school to erase points might allow you to keep or get this discount, too.

Finally, if you don't have a clean driving record, keeping track of when offenses fall off your record and getting new quotes for insurance after your record improves can help you save on auto insurance coverage.

No. There are no auto insurance companies that don't check your driving record. Most auto insurance companies check your driving record for the past 3 years when you submit your application for coverage, and some check your driving record as far back as 7-10 years.

However, auto insurance companies generally do not check your driving record just to give you a simple quote, with no obligation to buy. It costs money to check someone's official driving record, so the agent (or online tool) will initially generate a quote for your car insurance coverage based on the driving history you submit. Once you accept the quote and commit to move forward, an underwriter from the insurance company will check your actual driving record to make sure the quote is valid.

It's also common practice for auto insurance companies to check your driving record when it's time to renew your policy, generally every 6 or 12 months. They will typically run a check on your driving record about 45 days before a policy is going to expire. If you've received any new tickets or gotten into an accident since the policy began, you may be required to pay a higher rate. However, if you've been with a company for a long time and maintained a clean driving record, the insurer may choose to forgo continuously checking your driving record due to the cost.

Know What's In Your Driving Record

Since there are no auto insurance companies that do not check your driving record, knowing what an insurer might find out beforehand could be key to helping you get the cheapest insurance rate. For example, it's helpful to know if an old traffic violation is going to fall off your record soon, as that may be a good time to shop around for a better auto insurance rate. On the other hand, if you've accumulated several points on your license recently, you may want to take a defensive driving class to help prevent your insurance rate from going up or having your coverage canceled. Also, if your motor vehicle record is so bad that your driver's license is suspended or revoked, your policy could be canceled or you could be prevented from getting auto insurance altogether until your license is reinstated.

To get ahead of what an insurance provider might find in your driving history, you can request a copy of your official driving record from the department of motor vehicles for each state in which you've held a valid driver's license. Keep in mind that each state has its own rules about how long it keeps personal driving history records and how you should request those records.

Another source of useful information regarding your driving record is a Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) report, which offers a detailed history of claims you've made through insurance providers. With your CLUE report, you can dispute errors and have a clear idea of what insurance companies will be reviewing.

A speeding ticket will stay on your record for five years or less in most states. Some states require a speeding ticket to stay on your driving record for longer, but most insurance companies will still only take the last 3-5 years into consideration when calculating your premium. 

For example, a speeding ticket in Hawaii will stick with you for 10 years, and in Montana it will be on your record forever. But having an old speeding ticket on your record won't hurt you long-term. Once it's beyond your insurer's lookback period, it won't affect your premium anymore.

It's important to remember that every insurance company has its own polices on how far back it looks on customers' driving records, so be sure to check with your insurer to know exactly how long your speeding ticket will affect your premium. If you previously qualified for a good driver discount, you can also ask how long it will be before you can requalify. For example, American Family Insurance requires you to have a clean record for five years before you can receive the discount.

To get auto insurance with a bad driving record, compare quotes and purchase a high-risk car insurance policy. Some national insurance companies, like Geico and Progressive, offer great insurance options for bad drivers, including those who need an SR-22 or FR-44, and other companies – such as The General and Dairyland – specialize in nonstandard insurance.

How to Get Insurance With a Bad Driving Record

1. Look for a high-risk policy

High-risk policies are designed for drivers who are more likely than the average driver to file a claim, and they're usually more expensive than normal policies. Although the specifics of your driving record will affect your coverage options, you should be able to find a policy that works for you from one of the many companies that offer insurance to bad drivers.

2. Compare quotes to find affordable coverage

Since a high-risk policy can cost between $1,800 and $3,300 annually, you might need to temporarily get a basic policy that offers a low level of coverage while you work to improve your driving record. The more coverage you add, the more a car insurance policy is likely to cost.

3. Consider coverage options provided by your state

If a bad driving record is preventing you from getting coverage, you should consider joining your state's assigned risk pool, where you'll be assigned to an insurance company and given the minimum coverage required by state law.

Most insurance companies only take the last two to three years of your driving record into account when determining your premium, so if you're able to practice good habits for long enough, you'll eventually be able to get a better deal.

A bad driving record is a driving record that includes one or more moving violations, driver's license points, accidents, or serious charges such as DUI or hit-and-run. Having a bad driving record may result in a driver being classified as “high-risk,” likely making insurance coverage more expensive. Not all offenses that can appear on a driver's record are weighed the same, however, so what exactly is considered a bad driving record and how much it will affect your coverage depend on the insurance company and the specifics of your driving history. 

Having a driving record that isn't clean doesn't automatically make it bad. For example, insurance companies give less weight to minor violations like parking tickets or low-level speeding. Major accidents and serious charges like DUI and hit-and-run, on the other hand, are massive red flags that will have the greatest impact on your car insurance policy. They'll also stay on your driving record for much longer than minor violations. Although the exact amount of time varies between states, a serious offense such as DUI will usually stay on your record for 5-10 years (sometimes even longer), while a minor claim or moving violation will stay for about three years. 

If you have a bad driving record, you'll likely end up paying a much higher car insurance premium than the average driver. Depending on how bad your record is, you could potentially have trouble finding an insurer who will cover you at all. In that case, you'll want to explore the assigned-risk option offered by your state so you can receive the minimum coverage required by law as you work to improve you record. 

You are considered a high-risk driver for 6 months to 10 years. It depends on how far back an insurance company looks in your official driving record and Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) report for accident claims and moving violations, as well as the reason you were designated as risky in the first place. Not all auto insurance providers have the same rules regarding how long they consider someone a high-risk driver, and the “look back” time that insurance companies use when checking your driving record and claims history varies from company to company.

Often, drivers have to wait for points they've accumulated from traffic tickets and moving violations to fall off their driving record, or become too old for an insurer to see, before their insurance provider will stop considering them a high-risk driver. Insurance companies use their own points systems to determine how much of a risk a driver poses and then calculate rates accordingly, but they generally follow the same timeline as the DMV when it comes to having those points fall off your driving record. That could take anywhere from 3 to 10 years.

Most minor traffic violations, such as speeding tickets or single-car accidents, typically stay on a driving record for 3 years. Major violations, like getting a DUI/DWI or fleeing an officer, will usually remain on your record for 5-10 years. You can request a copy of your auto insurance company's point system, sometimes called a surcharge schedule, to get a better understanding of how accumulating points will affect your rate and how long the company may consider you a high-risk driver.

On the other hand, new drivers who have never had insurance, or drivers who have not maintained continuous insurance coverage, are usually only considered high-risk customers for the first term of their insurance policy (typically 6 months) so they can get established with a company or take steps to immediately improve their driving record, like by completing a defensive driving course. Teen drivers and adults with little or no history as an active driver are also considered high-risk drivers until they gain more driving experience.

Why Insurance Companies Could Consider You a High-Risk Driver:

• You're a teenage or senior driver.
• You get a major traffic violation, like a DUI/DWI.
• You accumulate enough points on your driving record (the threshold for rate increases is usually two or four).
• You don't have proof of at least six months of continuous insurance coverage.
• Your credit score is low, or you have no credit history.
• You rent rather than own your home.

The good news is you won't be considered a high-risk driver forever, as long as you start driving responsibly and let enough time pass for your past violations to stop showing up on your DMV record. However, if you continue to get tickets, have accidents and/or let your insurance coverage lapse, you could be considered high-risk for as long as you're an active driver.

Geico checks your driving record twice a year, since it sells six-month policies. Insurance companies like Geico check driving records when customers renew their policies, to determine how risky they are to continue insuring. Given that driving-related offenses suggest you are more likely to get into an accident and file a claim, Geico raises premiums for drivers who don't have a clean driving record.

One speeding ticket will raise insurance rates by an average of 25% across insurance companies, for example. Similarly, an at-fault accident increases premiums by 20% to 40%, on average, and 45% at Geico.

Geico uses a points and surcharge system that explains exactly how much your premium will increase for each citation. But since Geico checks your driving record only when it's time to renew your policy, a moving violation will not affect your insurance instantly. And rest assured that an accident or ticket will stop affecting your rates in three to five years.

In the meantime, though, policy renewal is a great time to compare quotes from multiple insurers to be sure you're getting the best deal for the coverage levels you want.

Most insurance companies check your driving record for the past three to five years, meaning if you had a violation outside this time period, it will not affect your insurance premiums. Some states regulate this “look-back” period, however, making it longer or shorter. For example, Massachusetts allows insurance companies to look back at 10 years of driving records. Virginia limits insurers to checking only three years of history.

When you apply for, or renew, your auto insurance, the insurance company will evaluate your risk level — how likely you are to cost them money through claims. The best way to do this is by reviewing your driving record. Insurers look for accident reports and both major and minor driving violations.

Minor violations include speeding, failure to stop, improper turns, following too closely, etc. These raise your risk in the eyes of an insurance company because they show you don't obey traffic laws designed to prevent crashes. In most states, minor traffic violations can be seen on your record for only three years.

Speeding (at least 20 mph over the limit), reckless driving, impaired driving, leaving the scene of an accident, and vehicular manslaughter are examples of major driving violations. They stay on your record longer. In Florida, for example, causing an accident while under the influence stays on your record for 75 years, basically your lifetime. Insurance companies count serious violations and at-fault accidents heavily in setting premiums.

Once the blemishes on your record are older than the look-back period, however, they are no longer a factor in setting your rates. For example, if your insurance company has a look-back period of five years, an accident you had in 2014 would stop affecting your rates in 2019. Your insurance rates should decrease at your next renewal as a result.

Insurance companies may check your driving record every 6 to 12 months when you apply for a new policy or renew an existing one. Car insurance companies might also check your driving record when you add a new driver, add a new vehicle, or change your coverage details.

By checking your driving record, insurance companies can determine how safe of a driver you are, which helps them estimate how risky you will be to insure. However, checking someone's driving record costs money, so insurance companies are less likely to check your record if you are an experienced driver who has been with the company for years.

If your insurance company doesn't check your record at every renewal, your rate might not change after a recent violation. But insurers do not disclose how often they skip record checks, and you can count on them finding out about violations eventually.