DUI Convictions, Accidents, & Tickets Sharply Increase Insurance Rates
Under the Massachusetts Safe Driver Insurance Plan, insurance companies sharply increase automobile insurance rates for those who have been convicted of drunk driving, operating after suspension, driving to endanger, or a variety of other traffic violations. Insurance companies will also increase your car insurance rates for 6 years if you have been found to be more than 50% at fault in a motor vehicle accident, no matter where the accident occurred. Massachusetts car insurance surcharges can cost thousands of dollars for those who have any DUI convictions, surchargeable accidents, or traffic tickets on their driving records.
One of the ways to avoid these expensive surcharges is to win your DUI case and appeal any citations and at fault accidents with the help of a surcharge appeal lawyer. My office is committed to helping our clients keep their insurance rates down by fighting DUI cases and other automobile surchargable events. Motorists have 20 days to appeal a civil motor vehicle citation and 30 days to appeal car accident surcharges. The instructions for both of these types of appeals are printed on the back of the traffic ticket or surcharge notice. Massachusetts surcharge appeal lawyers are available to help.
We have an employee who has one DUI that is about three years old now. He is in a self help program and has been sober since nov 2008. This is the second year the insurance company has issued us a 3k surcharge on our company insurance because of the employee's DUI. Is this legal? Is there an appeal process? He is a really good employee, we are not a huge company, and we cannot afford to pay the surcharge and give him an annual raise. Is there anything we can do?
Thanks,
Mark
The safe driver insurance plan generally applies only to private passenger vehicles. I would need to see a copy of the insurance policy to determine whether the additional charge is legal. You might be better off with another insurance company. Steep insurance increases are one of the many consequences of a Massachusetts drunk driving conviction which people often overlook.