A person who has been convicted of an alcohol-related driving offense has a long road to recovery, in terms of finances, legal issues and other personal considerations. One of these concerns that may have a lasting impact is what a DUI or DWI can do to an offender’s auto insurance. Since car insurance is vital to the financial security of everyone on the road, insurance companies take any alcohol-related incident very seriously and the person who is convicted of the crime certainly pays the price.
A DUI or DWI conviction is a loud signal to insurance companies that a person is an unsafe driver. Since driving while intoxicated is a risky behavior and affects the lives and property of anyone else on the road, car insurance companies are very quick to impose higher fees and premiums on the offenders. The state in which the conviction occurred may also require an offender have a “proof of financial responsibility form” on file with the department of motor vehicles. This form is typically filed by the auto insurance company and will state that the driver is carrying the required amount of car insurance for the state. For those who are deemed uninsurable by insurance companies due to prior convictions or other risky driving behaviors, the inability to obtain these documents (typically referred to as SR-22, FR-19 or FR-44) will cause the person’s license to remain suspended.
Auto insurance can certainly be affected by any sort of DUI or DWI conviction, and the more convictions that a person has, the less likely he or she will be trusted to be able to make safe driving decisions. For anyone who has been convicted of an alcohol-related driving offense, the effect on insurance premiums is just one more financial burden to bear. When looking at all of the ways that drunk driving can impact the driver’s life, from higher insurance premiums, court fees, jail time and even the installation of an ignition interlock system, it just makes more sense to drive sober.
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