Drinking and Driving Increases your Premiums - 23 Sep 2009 14:19
While it may be obvious, drinking and driving will increase your insurance premiums even if you’re not involved in an accident. While driving under the influence of alcohol increases the chance of you being involved in an accident, which in turn increases your risk to your insurance premium, if you get stopped and are arrested for being over the legal limit, your insurance company will increase your premiums.
Drinking makes you a higher risk factor. In the States, drivers who have been found to be over the legal limit had their premiums pushed up by 35 percent. Drivers who were charged with DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) showed an annual increase of about $2,148 a year – almost $500 more than drivers with no such record. If the DWI cause an accident while under the influence, the premiums went up a further $200.
Insurers consider such drivers high risk, not only because of the increased opportunity for accident, but because the severity of these accidents is usually worse than if the driver was not inhibited. In fact many insurance companies will not insure someone who has been arrested on DWI grounds.
Not to mention that most car insurance policy clauses exclude drunk driving and the Road Accident Fund may refuse to pay out for injury-related claims as a result of drunk driving.
While it may be obvious, drinking and driving will increase your insurance premiums even if you’re not involved in an accident. While driving under the influence of alcohol increases the chance of you being involved in an accident, which in turn increases your risk to your insurance premium, if you get stopped and are arrested for being over the legal limit, your insurance company will increase your premiums.
Drinking makes you a higher risk factor. In the States, drivers who have been found to be over the legal limit had their premiums pushed up by 35 percent. Drivers who were charged with DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) showed an annual increase of about $2,148 a year – almost $500 more than drivers with no such record. If the DWI cause an accident while under the influence, the premiums went up a further $200.
Insurers consider such drivers high risk, not only because of the increased opportunity for accident, but because the severity of these accidents is usually worse than if the driver was not inhibited. In fact many insurance companies will not insure someone who has been arrested on DWI grounds.
Not to mention that most car insurance policy clauses exclude drunk driving and the Road Accident Fund may refuse to pay out for injury-related claims as a result of drunk driving.