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Drivers may incur points on their driver’s license and insurance

by | Mar 19, 2020 | Firm News

When Michigan drivers receive traffic tickets, they may be tempted to pay the fine and move on with their lives. However, doing so could mean incurring points on their driver’s licenses, but those may not be the only points they incur. A driver could incur points with his or her insurance company as well, which means increases in premiums and possibly a classification as a high-risk driver.

Here in Michigan, points remain on a driver’s license for two years, and after incurring a certain amount within that time, his or her license may be suspended. This sequence of events usually begins with a traffic citation from a law enforcement officer, and he or she may decide not to issue a citation depending on the circumstances. Officers usually issue some sort of citation when an accident is involved, but in cases where serious weather conditions caused the crash, a traffic ticket may not be issued. Of course, this scenario assumes police were called in the first place since it does not happen in some cases.

However, most people will contact their insurance companies when an accident happens. In the alternative, insurance companies will find out about a traffic violation. In either or both of these instances, the insurance company uses a formula that involves points in order to determine how much a driver’s premiums will rise. These points remain on attached to a person forever, but their impact will end at some point depending on what happened.

It may be possible to avoid getting points on a driver’s license record, but not necessarily on an insurance record. That does not mean that a Michigan resident should give up challenging a civil violation, misdemeanor violation or felony offense associated with the use of a vehicle. Just because a person may incur points with the insurance company does not preclude attempting to limit or eliminate points on his or her driver’s license since insurance points do not threaten a suspension at some point.