Typically, no, parking tickets do not go on your record, nor do they affect your insurance rates.
The reason for this is that they are a non-moving violation. Hence they do not portray you as a driver with poor safety habits.
If you handle your tickets appropriately, they will not cause any problems for you when seeking insurance coverage.
Parking Tickets And Car Insurance- A Tricky Relationship
If you cause an accident or you are guilty of a moving violation, you can expect your insurance company to charge you a higher premium than they normally would. But do parking tickets get the same treatment?
The answer is no; parking tickets alone can’t convince an insurance company to increase the amount of your premium.
However, we mentioned that car tickets don’t affect your car insurance when handled appropriately. So let’s look at different scenarios that could lead to a parking ticket, and how they are treated affects your insurance.
You Get A Parking Ticket And Pay Your Fine Within The Given Timeframe
Imagine taking longer than you expect to attend to something only to return to a parking ticket under your car wiper.
Without much grumbling, you take the ticket, go online, and pay your fine before the deadline. Would this go on your record? No. Would it affect your insurance? Also no.
You Dispute The Ticket
We all know someone who fined a parking ticket unjustly; let’s say that person is you. Then, rather than pay the fine on the ticket, you can dispute it.
Some areas allow you to dispute a parking ticket online, while others will ask you to present a letter of dispute and appear in court. Whatever the case, maybe you are expected to do all this within the provided timeframe.
Not all states will give you the option to dispute a ticket, but if they do, you are free to take it on the basis that you were fined unjustly and you have evidence to back up your claim.
You Ignore A Ticket
It is at this point things become tricky with parking tickets. After being fined, you are to either pay for the ticket or dispute it in court. Your insurance prospects take a severe hit when you fail to do either of these things within the stated deadline.
Remember that parking tickets are only harmless when handled appropriately within the provided deadline.
Unpaid parking tickets are like bad investments; the amount can increase by double or even triple the longer it is left unattended. In extreme cases, your vehicle will be booted or towed.
Your ticket can also get to the DMV, and this will cause all renewals on your account to be placed on hold until the fine is cleared.
Now let’s talk about how this could hurt your insurance plans; once your debts have gotten to a large sum, they would be sent to a collections agency, which will negatively impact your credit report.
Insurance companies look at your credit report when considering whether you are eligible for an insurance policy in their organization. A bad credit report will discourage them, and this will lead to either.
1. An increase in your premium payment
2. Being turned down from their organization
Private Parking Ticket
Private establishments such as schools or apartment complexes may hand out their parking tickets. You should treat this like you would a regular parking ticket.
Don’t assume that they cannot harm your record because they are private. For example, a school can place this ticket on your academic record and deny your transcript until your fine is paid.
Someone Else Gets A Ticket On Your Car
There have been cases where someone borrows your car and gets a parking ticket, so what happens then?
Unfortunately, parking tickets follow the car and not the driver. So whether you handle the cost yourself or ask whoever borrowed your car to pay the fine, the bottom line remains that you should settle parking tickets linked to your vehicle.
Details Included In Your Driving Record
As you are aware, parking tickets don’t make it to your driving record in the first place. Hence, you don’t have to worry about their effect on your car insurance.
Regardless you will be required to present your Motor Vehicle Record when trying to purchase car insurance.
Each state has limits on how much information companies can pull from your driving record, but there are some items you can expect your record to include:
1. Traffic accidents
2. Traffic tickets
3. Driver’s license status
4. Personal details
5. DUI convictions
Not everything on your MVR remains there forever; some of these details will change over time. For instance, minor violations may not last beyond a year in your record, but DUIs typically last seven years.
Parking tickets aren’t included in your record, but this isn’t enough to ignore them. Tickets ignored or handled inappropriately develop a domino effect in the future.
What Happens When You Don’t Pay A Parking Ticket?
Failing to attend to a parking ticket before its due date leads to a fine. The fine could be a set amount or percentage of the fine itself.
Naturally, the longer you ignore the ticket, the higher you would have to pay. Once your fine gets to a certain amount, it will be forwarded to a collection agency, which will negatively impact your credit report. Depending on your state, you could pay as high as $1,000 as fine and late payment penalties. Finally, you could risk your car being booted or towed. In extreme cases, an insurance company could choose to turn down your application for a policy if you are deemed high risk.
Conclusion
Parking tickets do not appear on your record and thus do not affect your insurance premiums. Remember this is when the tickets are handled appropriately within their specified deadlines.
Failing to address a parking ticket on time or ignoring it will lead to fines, your vehicle being impounded, and a bad credit report in extreme cases.