What can I do about my insurance?

Also..will a 4-point reduction class make any difference at all?

$200 a month for you is cheap. Every time you are convicted of a moving violation, your insurance premium goes up. If you have two at-fault accidents, you are an even larger candidate for significantly increased premiums.

In my opinion, you should stay on your mom’s insurance until the current policy runs out. If they allow your mom to renew for anything close to $200, stay on her policy. I think it’s likely, however, that your mom will wind up getting a larger bill soon (assuming you are convicted of the Virginia infraction before the policy is next reviewed).

You have to wait three years for a moving violation to drop off your record for the purposes of insurance. As violations drop off, your premiums will decrease. It also helps that as you age from a teenager -> 21 year-old -> middle-aged, your premiums also naturally decrease (since you’re less of a liability at 40 than you are at 21).

With all those hits against you and only being 21….. that sounds like a decent deal.

I agree, $200/month is cheap, all things considered. You might want to contact your insurance company and see if they have any discounts, such as for being a student (if you are one) or anything else that might pertain to you.

That is cheap, you may have to go into a “POOL” policy if you get off your mom’s policy.

Pool policy’s are written by a group of insurance companies and can cost two or three times what you pay now.

Re-read @Neurotic_David‘s post. It take THREE years to clear moving violations.

What is your total points against your license?

$200 sounds ok. Now the trick is to drive better, more safely. A lot of young people don’t take driving seriously enough. Hell, a lot of adults don’t in the US. The negative stuff will drop off your record, and just being older will lower your rates in the future. You can always call a couple insurers and price it for yourself, see how it compares.

Three of my accidents and two of my three speeding tickets happened in 2008, the year I started driving. Unfortunately, those mistakes are going to be haunting me for awhile now.

I’m not sure about points on my license. How can I find out? If I take a point reduction class, will it help with my insurance payments?

I did an online quote with Progressive and they offered me liability at $145/mo. I put in all of these accidents/violations. That sounds good to me, but from what everyone else is saying, I’m wondering if it’s too good to be true. I really need to get off of my mom’s insurance if at all possible.

First, you need to take the drivers test all over again. The moving violations will cause a steep mark in your auto insurance, especially if you plead guilty and just mailed in the money.

No matter which agency you attempt to buy your own insurance, it will be costly.

Well, two things. If the accidents and speeding tickets were in 2008, then they’re either no longer being considered (if they happened before May 31) or they’ve aged enough that Progressive is ignoring them/pro-rating their importance. So these aren’t going to “haunt you” because they’re all just about gone. Only your Virginia ticket from this weekend is going to stay on your record (for the purposes of insurance).

If Progressive is quoting you $145/month, then keep going through their processes. You don’t have to sign the policy until the end of their processes, so you’ll know before you get to the commitment line if the $145/month is the true price (or is too good to be true). It can’t hurt you to go through their processes to find out :)

@john65pennington What exactly would taking the driving test again do?

Taking a defensive driving or advanced driver’s education course approved by your insurance company may reduce your insurance bill. At the least it will prevent it from going up again with the last infraction.

Ok, after doing some research this is what I found out:

My not-at-fault accident happened over 3 years ago, so that doesn’t matter anymore. My first speeding ticket won’t matter after June 11th of this year because it will also be 3 years old. I was wrong that my second ticket was in 2008, though. It was in 2010. Then I have the one from yesterday. My at fault accidents were both in 2008, but they still matter because those count for 5 years.

So I guess 2 accidents and 2 speeding tickets is better than 3 of each. I think I might do a 4-point reduction class before switching to a different insurance company. I’m going to look around, but so far Progressive is giving me the best quote for liability. Hopefully it’ll all work out without me having to pay $300 a month…I just can’t afford that.

The points reduction may ONLY apply to keeping your license, not reduction for insurance purposes.
What state are you in? Pennsylvania or New Jersey maybe?

Neither. I live in the South.

The reduction in North Carolina is ONLY if you are close to the 12 points.

The insurance and license points ARE different here’s the website for NC.

Every state is different. I would think the insurance company can tell if there is any way to reduce your monthly bill by taking a class. Sounds like you are on your way to figuring it out fro. The research you already started doing. Have you talked to your parents? Maybe they can help? Maybe they laws in your state. You are on their policy now, right?

I am pretty sure Progressive is reputable. Maybe try State Farm or Allstate also, for one more quote, and they may give you more information.

I really don’t understand your rush to get off of your mother’s policy.

With your track record, it’s a miracle she agreed to keep you on all this time :)

@Buttonstc I don’t think she is in a rush, I think she is trying to lower her cost.

Be careful with Progressive. A few years ago I got their insurance and the next month they sold my policy to some fly by night insurance group that tripled my rates.

@Jleslie

“I really need to get off my mom’s insurance if at all possible”

Those were her exact words which sounded a bit more urgent than just lower rates to me. Maybe the word “really” caused the impression of more than mere price shopping. But I could be mistaken :)

@Buttonstc I missed that sentence. I think you are right.

@Buttonstc The rush is that I no longer live with her, and therefore can’t be on her insurance policity with Allstate.

I ended up getting liability insurance at $100/mo with a local insurance company and got quotes for around $150/mo with two other companies, so I guess I’m not as horrid as it sounded by these responses. :)

I didn’t suggest you were horrid. I was just curious why it was so urgent for you to be off of your mother’s policy since it appeared to be a pretty cushy deal all things considered.

But you explained why and that makes sense.

I’m also assuming the reason for your low rate now is due to much less coverage than what you previously had. Basic liability is a bare bones amount of coverage but that’s all I carry also since my car is old enough to not make it worth carrying collision.

@Buttonstc Well my car is a 2002 but it’s in good shape. I’d like to have full coverage and I was quoted at $190/month for it, which is less that what I’m paying now, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I haven’t been in an accident since 2008 and I don’t see myself causing one anytime soon (who does?), but if I did, I wouldn’t have the money to buy another car. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet, but I was just stating that the above comments made it sound like I’d have to get some special insurance because my record is so awfully horrendous. I know it’s far from great, but it could be a lot worse. I just had a rough first year of driving. I had to learn a few things the hard way.