How a DUI affects insurance
A DUI's effect on auto premium could be as high as a 250% increase or as low as 37%. The difference depends on the state.
Aside from the physical and emotional cost of a DUI or DWI, driving under the influence could wind up costing up to $20,000 in legal fees and fines, and the additional cost on insurance could skyrocket, depending on the insured’s driving history.
Auto insurance premiums are calculated based on what insurers calculate individual risk to be, and a DUI is among the costliest factors that could determine individual risk.
According to CoverHound, in the first year after getting a DUI, car insurance premium could go up as high as 94.13%. After the second and third year, granted no additional moving violations, premiums could lower slightly. On the third year after a DUI, the average premium rings in at a 63.74% increase.
State-by-state differences
To get a better estimate of how a DUI would affect auto premium increases, analyze local data, as rate increases vary state-by-state. For instance, in Maine, the average rate increase after a DUI is 37%, way below the national average of 80%, and significantly lower than North Carolina’s average increase of 371%.
Among the states with the highest premium rate increases are Michigan (249%), California (186%), Hawaii (208%), Arizona (145%), New Jersey (132%), Delaware (81%), Georgia (78%) and Rhode Island (68%).
The states with the lowest rate increases are Maryland (28%), Indiana and Maine (37%), Vermont (41%), Alaska and Wisconsin (46%), and New York (47%).
The average national dollar increase to auto premiums after a DUI is $1,163, and the average rate cost rings in at $2,610 each year.
The real cost of a DUI
Driving under the influence is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous decisions a person could make, threatening the wellbeing of not only the driver, but every other driver and passenger on the road. It is a violation so serious, some insurance companies might not even raise rates — they’ll just cancel the policy altogether.
This becomes the worst-case scenario when shopping around for a new policy. Not only will a DUI be on the driving record driving up rates, a policy cancellation can have a costlier affect on a new policy.
A DUI will stay on a criminal record for the rest of an offender’s life, but eventually, it will be cleared from the DMV record, which is the good news; insurance companies only see what’s on a DMV record, so after a DUI has cleared, insurance rates will eventually go down. How long this takes, however, varies by state.
In most states, a DUI or DWI will stay on a DMV record for at least 5-10 years, but some states are significantly stronger on this. In New Mexico, for example, a DUI stays on a record for 55 years — so potentially the rest of one’s life.
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