At fault with a ticket, how much can I expect my insurance to go up?

[ari.aho]

I'm in Florida. I was involved in an accident yesterday, it was glaringly my fault, and I know it.

I also, received a ticket for careless driving, and damaged 2 other vehicles - not totaled, but I'm responsible.

Here in Florida, we have an option to elect to take a driver education course which would result in adjudication and no points on my license.

While this costs more than the ticket, and it's not in doubt my insurance will be going up; what I want to know, is - is it worthwhile to just suck it up pay the fee, get the points on my record since my insurance will be increasing regardless? Or would the no-points, drivers education route save me more money in the long run?

Thanks for the insight,

Ariel

 

[adjusterjack]

Your insurance company will pay for all the damage and surcharge you whether the ticket is on your record or not. How much it will be is anybody's guess. You'll just have to wait until your next renewal to find out. I can only tell you, based on my last at-fault accident, it will be painful.

The accident will be reported to C.L.U.E. (The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) where all insurance companies will have access to the record.

The advantage to keeping it off your DMV driving record is that you keep it off your DMV driving record.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I would suggest you take the class. In addition to keeping it off your record, it may give your skills that you seem to be lacking at the moment and reduce the chance of a future wreck.

 

[FlyingRon]

Florida has no statutory rate scoring, so it is up to your insurance company. Most insurance companies will increase rates on at-fault accidents that they pay out on. The class won't hurt, but chances are they're going to ding you anyhow if they paid out over the accident.