Barely a wreck

[Scot10]

What is the name of your state? Louisiana

If you bump into another car - and I mean barely tap - and you have to go to court to pay a fine is there any way to keep this from affecting my insurance? I pled "No Contest" and paid the fine.

 

[MyHouse]

Holy cow, are you serious? You had to pay a fine for tapping another car? This has happened to me several times (where I stopped and got hit from behind but no damage to either car) and one time I slid on wet pavement and barely hit a car stopped in front of me (again, no damage) and we just walked away without doing anything (and were just happy there were no damages)! Sorry, I don't have any advice for you regarding the insurance. You may want to check with the insurance company. Since there were no damages then I would assume there was no claim made... so hopefully you will be OK. I expect people in the friendly south to act better than this.

 

[ecmst12]

If you got a ticket, then your insurance company will find out about it and your rates could increase at your next renewal, claim or no claim. Were there points associated with the ticket?

 

[Scot10]

I'm not familiar with points. How would I find that out?

 

[moburkes]

The points don't matter. Upon a VERY cursory review of your state's insurance information, there is nothing that prohibits an insurance company from surcharging your policy based on an accident, even when the payout is minimal or none. Basically, an accident is an accident whether the payout is $0 or $157,000 or $1 million.

 

[ecmst12]

To find out if the ticket put points on your license, contact the DMV. It MIGHT matter. It depends on how your insurance policy is written and whether they consider the ticket or the accident to be the worse offense. But your rates CAN go up either way. Whether they WILL is up to your insurance company.

 

[moburkes]

To find out if the ticket put points on your license, contact the DMV. It MIGHT matter. It depends on how your insurance policy is written and whether they consider the ticket or the accident to be the worse offense. But your rates CAN go up either way. Whether they WILL is up to your insurance company.

Explain your position on points. If the DMV charges 1 or 20 points, that is coming irrelevant to what the insurance company charges. The insurance company may charge 3, while the DMV charges 2 or 4. Whether it is 2 or 4, it won't affect his rates.

 

[ecmst12]

The insurance company may treat a points-ticket differently then a no-points ticket. I wasn't questioning the NUMBER of points but only IF there were points.

 

[moburkes]

The insurance company may treat a points-ticket differently then a no-points ticket. I wasn't questioning the NUMBER of points but only IF there were points.

Ummm. I see what you're getting at. Its not the points. The question for OP is: What did you get a ticket for?

 

[Scot10]

The ticket was made out for Careless Driving.

 

[moburkes]

The ticket was made out for Careless Driving.

That ticket has points associated with it, AND is one of the few tickets that most insurance companies surcharge more than the surcharge for an accident.

 

[Scot10]

Even if there was no damage? I didn't even knock the dust off her car.

 

[moburkes]

Even if there was no damage? I didn't even knock the dust off her car.

You're asking several different questions. A careless driving ticket affects your insurance, whether or not you are also involved in an accident. The amount of the damage has no bearing on whether or not the insurance company is allowed by law to surcharge you. Some do, some don't, for minor accidents. Some don't if this is your only accident in 3 years. It is insurance-company specific.