Most people understand that, if they’re convicted of DUI in North Carolina, they’ll be facing serious penalties. Even if it’s your first DUI conviction offense, you’ll be looking at fines and possible jail time. Your driver’s license will also be suspended for at least 6 months. In addition to this, you can expect your insurance rates to go way up once the insurance company learns you’ve been convicted of DUI. This is why it’s so important that you hire a criminal defense lawyer in Asheville as soon as possible after your arrest. They’ll do their best to get your charges dismissed or at least reduced to reckless driving. While a reckless driving charge will still impact your auto insurance, it won’t be nearly as bad as a DUI.
If you’re worried about what will happen with your pending DUI case in Asheville, North Carolina, give us a call. You can go online and search for the “best DUI defense lawyer near me” and you’ll find our contact information. Once you retain our services, one of our seasoned criminal defense lawyers in Asheville will get started on your case right away.
Most Driving Violations Will Impact Your Car Insurance Rates
While it makes sense to be worried about your insurance rates, your biggest concern should be avoiding a DUI conviction in the first place. Most moving violations will cause your auto insurance to go up. For example, if you’re caught speeding or run a red light, your insurance could go up. It depends on your driving history and how egregious the offense was. Of course, it won’t be as bad with a simple traffic ticket as it will be with a conviction of DUI. It’s just important to remember that, even if your criminal defense lawyer in Asheville is able to get the charged dropped to reckless driving, your insurance rates may still go up a significant amount.
Is This Your First DUI Conviction?
One of the factors that will impact how much your insurance rates go up is whether this is your first DUI conviction. If you’ve already been charged and convicted of DUI in the past, not only will your insurance rates go up, but you could be dropped from your current insurance carrier. Most auto insurance companies have a policy that allows them to drop you if you incur too many points or are arrested for certain driving violations.
Being charged and convicted of DUI is certainly one of the reasons why you could be dropped. This is the last thing you want to happen. Not only do you need insurance to drive, but the judge in your case may order you to secure SR-22 insurance. This coverage is expensive enough as it is. You have no idea how hard it will be to find a new insurance company to write you this kind of policy if you were recently convicted of DUI.
Your Criminal Defense Lawyer in Asheville Will Try to Get the Charges Reduced or Dismissed
If you’ve been charged with DUI, your criminal defense lawyer in Ashville will do their best to get the charges dropped. If they’re unable to do this, they’ll still try to get the charges reduced to reckless driving. If they’re able to do this, you may still see an increase in your car insurance rates, but it will be nothing near what you’d pay if you were convicted of DUI.
One of the reasons your insurance rates go up is because you’re no longer considered a safe driver. Once you’ve proven that you are willing to drink and drive, you make it harder for the insurance company to trust that you won’t get into an accident. They also worry that if you get into an accident when you’re drinking and driving, the results will be disastrous.
Drunk driving accidents typically end up with very serious injuries or even fatalities. Sadly, the victims in these accidents tend to be the people in the other car. This means that your insurance company will be paying out claims for both your injuries and the injuries or deaths of anybody in the other vehicle. If your insurance company is still willing to keep you on as a client after your DUI conviction, they’ll have to increase your premiums. Since the chances of an accident are higher, they’ll need you to pay more.
If You’re Convicted, Your Insurance Rates Could Skyrocket
If you’re wondering just how high your insurance rates can go, some of our clients tell us that their rates have doubled or even tripled. This doesn’t mean that your rates will stay high forever. The longer you can go without another ticket or violation, the faster your rates will come back to normal. However, don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.
You’ll have to go several years without incident in order to convince your insurance carrier that you’re a safe risk. It’s just like someone who has a lot of points on their license. Typically, you must drive three years without any infractions before you can see these points come off your license. When it comes to a DUI conviction, it will take at least this long before you see your rates come back down to a normal level.
Your Best Bet is to Search for the “Best DUI Defense Lawyer Near Me” and Contact Our Office
If you’ve recently been charged with DUI in North Carolina, you need to contact our office. All you have to do is go online and do a search for the “best DUI defense lawyer near me” and our firm will appear at the top. You can visit our website and learn more about our firm. You can also request to schedule your initial consultation with one of our reputable criminal defense lawyers in Asheville. With so much on the line, the last thing you want to do is handle things on your own.
If you’ve already been convicted of DUI and are worried about what will happen to your insurance, you can call us as well. We’ll see if one of our expert attorneys can help explain what your options are as far as insurance is concerned.
