Slow down, save money

It’s warmer now, and with the threat of snow and ice gone we have a tendency to get a little more relaxed about our speed on the roads. But being cavalier about your driving record can have a big impact on your wallet. Speeding, along with all the other infractions for which you will be ticketed, will drive up your insurance rate. Insurance companies don’t give two hoots about how many points you have or have lost. They look at the tickets. And them thar tickets can cost you big bucks.

The first ticket you get may lull you into a false sense of invincibility because often the first one doesn’t have a big impact on your insurance bill. But get yourself another, or get caught on a major ticket (speeding over 50 kph, school zone infractions, or speeding in a construction zone,) and watch your rates head upwards. And not just for the next year! Nope, you’ll likely have to pay higher rates for upwards of three years.

Minor tickets like disobeying a traffic sign usually spikes insurance rates by about 10-15% depending on your insurance company’s rating system. Major tickets — like careless driving, driving under suspension or impaired driving — will send your rates up between 30-50%, if you can even get insurance. Some companies just cancel your insurance because you’re high risk and then you have to head to a high-risk insurance company where you’ll pay three times what you were paying before.

If you don’t want your car insurance eating up an incredibly large piece of your budget pie, take you foot off the gas and pay attention to the rules.