How a Speeding Ticket Impacts Your Insurance in New York

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Speeding ticket fines in New York range from $45 to $600, with up to 11 driver penalty points. But the cost of a speeding ticket in New York only begins with the fine. Once that fine is paid, you’re likely to see an increase in the cost of insurance averaging nearly $300 per year. Understanding how speeding tickets impact insurance in New York — and how to keep those tickets off your driving record — can help you manage your insurance costs in this expensive state. 

How much does insurance go up after a speeding ticket in New York?

On average, Bankrate found that New York drivers pay about 7 percent more for full coverage car insurance following a single speeding conviction. That’s a relatively small increase compared to most states — but because New York’s average auto insurance premiums are so high to begin with, a speeding conviction could mean paying $25 more each month for your coverage.

A few things to keep in mind: first, your insurance premium won’t go up immediately after you receive a speeding ticket. Only after you’ve pled guilty and your insurance company has reviewed your updated driving record (typically in advance of your policy’s renewal date) will you receive a higher bill.

Your driving record is also just one of the factors insurers consider when setting rates and considering surcharges. For example, drivers of different ages may see a different impact to their rates after a speeding ticket — as seen in the table below.

How speeding tickets impacted insurance for real drivers in New York

To get insight into how actual New Yorkers have successfully handled speeding tickets, we turned to local forums on Reddit. Anonymous users in r/AskLE and r/hudsonvalley shared their experience with fighting tickets — and avoiding insurance increases — in New York.

*The quotes and citations included on this page have been verified by our editorial team and are accurate as of the posting date. Outlinked content may contain views and opinions that do not reflect the views and opinions of Bankrate. 

How long does a speeding ticket stay on insurance in New York?

In New York, moving violations typically stay on your official driving record for about four years — until the end of the year in which the violation occurred, plus three additional years. A speeding conviction will typically impact your insurance for a similar timeframe.

Remember, your insurance company will generally only check your driving record — which is used to determine your driving risk and calculate any surcharges — when your policy is up for renewal, every six to 12 months. Depending on your renewal schedule and when you received the initial ticket, you can expect a surcharge to stay on your policy for three to five years.

How to avoid an insurance increase after a speeding ticket in New York

There are two ways to prevent or mitigate an insurance increase following a speeding ticket in New York: keep the conviction off your record by fighting the ticket or work to lower your insurance costs once the conviction has been entered on your DMV file.

Try to keep the speeding ticket off your driving record

If possible, keeping a speeding ticket off your driving record is the most effective way to avoid an increase in your insurance bill. Depending on your circumstances, there may be a few ways to achieve this:

• Hire a traffic lawyer or ticket-fighting service: One straightforward way to fight a ticket is to hire a professional. You’ll need to pay legal fees in exchange for their services, but having a traffic lawyer may give you an advantage, particularly if you don’t have a previously clean record.
• Appear in court and plead not guilty: If it’s your first ticket and you have the flexibility to appear in court, you may be able to get the ticket reduced to a non-moving violation, which won’t impact your insurance.
• Ask about a defensive driving course: New York offers Point and Insurance Reduction Program (PIRP) courses that may allow you to reduce points on your license, avoid an insurance increase or both.

Shop around for competitive rates after a ticket

If you aren’t able to keep your speeding conviction off your record — or if you choose to eat the cost of the fine rather than pay for a lawyer — there are still ways to save on car insurance.

Shopping around is the most effective way to compare rates and find the carrier with the best price after a speeding conviction. According to Bankrate’s analysis, drivers in New York who switch carriers after a speeding ticket could save from $36 to $1,200 per year on car insurance.

Drive defensively to avoid future speeding tickets

A single speeding ticket can have significant insurance consequences, but repeated violations are likely to impact the cost of coverage even more. To avoid future tickets and keep your rates affordable, take steps to practice safe, defensive driving:

• Defensive driving courses: Not only could you earn insurance discounts by taking DMV-approved defensive driving courses, but these courses can also help you understand and implement safe driving strategies.
• Telematics discounts: Many New York insurers offer some form of usage-based insurance discount, which can track your driving habits and offer discounted premiums if you avoid speeding and other unsafe behaviors. Using these apps may improve your driving as well as help you earn discounts.
• Vehicle tech: If your car has intelligent speed assistance (ISA), adaptive cruise control or other safety technology, make sure you understand how it works and keep it turned on to avoid speeding and other unsafe driving habits.

Frequently asked questions

• Should I report a speeding ticket to insurance?
  

  It’s important to be honest with your insurance company when asked to report driving violations, but you don’t need to go out of your way to inform your current insurer when you receive a new ticket. Your insurance company will learn about any speeding convictions when they check your motor vehicle report (MVR) in the process of renewing your policy or processing your application. If you’re asked about recent violations and fail to report a speeding ticket, the surcharge will be applied to your policy anyway when the MVR is run.

• How much do 4 points affect insurance in New York?
  

  New York insurance companies don’t look at penalty points when assessing your risk as a driver. Instead, they’ll look at the violations that earned you those points. If you have 4 license points from speeding, you were likely convicted of speeding 11 to 20 mph over the speed limit. Each insurance company will look differently at that violation, but most will take it seriously and assign a surcharge to your premium.

• How long does your insurance stay high after a speeding ticket?
  

  If you receive a speeding ticket in New York, your insurance bill will usually stay high for three to five years following the conviction. The exact timeframe can vary depending on when you were convicted, when your policy renews and other factors. Your speeding surcharge may shrink over time before the violation falls off your record, but you may also see your base premium increase due to factors unrelated to your speeding ticket.

Methodology

Bankrate utilizes Quadrant Information Services to analyze April 2025 rates for all ZIP codes and carriers in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Rates are weighted based on the population density in each geographic region. Quoted rates are based on a single, 40-year-old male and female driver with a clean driving record, good credit and the following full coverage limits:

• $100,000 bodily injury liability per person
• $300,000 bodily injury liability per accident
• $50,000 property damage liability per accident
• $100,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per person
• $300,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per accident
• $500 collision deductible
• $500 comprehensive deductible

To determine minimum coverage limits, Bankrate used minimum coverage that meets each state’s requirements. Our base profile drivers own a 2023 Toyota Camry, commute five days a week and drive 12,000 miles annually. Bundling and paperless billing discounts are applied.

These are sample rates and should only be used for comparative purposes. Your quotes will differ.

If otherwise specified, the base profile has been modified with the following driver characteristics:

• Credit-based insurance scores:
  

  Rates were calculated based on the following insurance credit tiers assigned to our drivers: “poor, average, good (base) and excellent.” Insurance credit tiers factor in your official credit scores but are not dependent on that variable alone. Four states prohibit or limit the use of credit as a rating factor in determining auto insurance rates: California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan.

• Incidents:
  

  Rates were calculated by evaluating our base profile with the following incidents applied: clean record (base), at-fault accident, single speeding ticket, single DUI conviction and lapse in coverage.

• Mileage:
  

  Rates were calculated by evaluating our base profile with the following differences in mileage: 2K, 5K, 12K (base), 15K and 20K.

• Model:
  

  Unless otherwise stated, rates are for 2023 vehicle models. For new vs used vehicles, we included the following year in our calculations: 2013.

• Age:
  

  Rates were calculated by evaluating our base profile with the ages 18-70 (base: 40 years) applied. Depending on age, drivers may be a renter or homeowner. Age is not a contributing rating factor in Hawaii and Massachusetts due to state regulations. For teen drivers, rates were determined by adding a 16- or 17-year-old teen to their 40-year-old married parents’ policy. The rates displayed reflect the total cost of a driver this age added to their parents’ policy.

• Gender:
  

  The following states do not use gender as a determining factor in calculating premiums: California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania.

• Status:
  

  Rates were evaluated based on the following marital/family status: single (base), married, 40-year-old married man and woman. Marital status is not a rating factor in Hawaii and Massachusetts.