Each state Department or Bureau of Motor Vehicles keeps a record on each registered driver in the state. It is called Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) or often known as driving records and includes the driver’s name, birth date, driving license number, any traffic tickets, moving violation convictions (like DUIs), license suspensions, any vehicular crimes and accidents. MVR is very important for auto insurance premium calculations and coverage acceptance.
Motor Vehicle Records can make a driver higher or lower risk in the eyes of automobile insurers. When applicants have clean history, hold their license long enough and have traceable insurance history, they can enjoy great rates.
Only certain agencies and companies can access a person’s MRV, like law enforcement officers, insurance companies and other parties deemed to have a valid reason like for research purposes. People can get their own reports through DMV by filling a form and paying a small fee.
Employers’ may want to carry a Motor Vehicle Report check when someone applies for a driving related job. In such cases, they can access the report, providing the applicant fills out a consent form. Or they may require the applicant to provide it.
Many states allocate certain points for each traffic violation. MVR score is the total number of points accumulated on the file. When someone exceeds a certain number of points, their license can be suspended. These are usually called points on the license but they actually go on the report and can be seen by insurance companies, along with any past license suspensions. However, insurers usually use their own proprietary scoring of the infractions.
Most tickets have a way of finding their way back to your state’s DMV for getting recorded, even if it is received in another state as they share information. So, it is always best to be honest about the tickets and inform your auto insurance provider because they will find out about them eventually.
Checking your own Motor Vehicle Report can help in several ways. First of all, people can see if everything is reflected there. For example, people get point deductions for things like taking a defensive driving course. If it isn’t there, they can contact their DMV and get it taken into account.
Secondly, traffic infractions don’t stay on records forever and roll off after a certain number of years. Many traffic tickets like failing to signal and speeding usually come off after 3 years in most states and 5 years in some. Things like Driving Under Influence (DUI) can stay on record for 7 – 10 years, depending on the state. Most states remove them off the record, while some states may actually provide full reports with every infraction in the past, if it is asked for.
Knowing when something like a speeding ticket will come off your record can help you align your car insurance search accordingly. For example, you may not want to wait another five months knowing your last speeding ticket came off your record and may want to make the most of your now clean history by lowering your automobile insurance premium. It may not even be necessary to wait until the next renewal considering you can save 20% without the ticket there and cancel an existing policy often without a cancellation penalty.
Furthermore, most car insurers look at the last three years of history when they are calculating premiums, even if it takes longer for some tickets to drop off your history. Again, it is very important to get a few quotes to cover more of the market because some companies are known to look at 5 years past history.
People don’t really need to know which company looks at 3 and which ones look for 5-year history. All they need to do is to get a few automobile insurance quotes and look at the final price.