Image by Getty Images; Illustration by Bankrate

The cost of a speeding ticket in Washington State starts at $33 and can go as high as $188, according to the fine schedule laid out by the Washington State court system. But that’s just the base fine assigned to Washington speeding tickets. On top of that fine, insurance premiums in Washington can increase by as much as 20 percent for the three to five years following a speeding conviction.

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

On average, drivers in Washington State can see their auto insurance premiums go up by 20 percent following a speeding ticket conviction — which is approximately $32 per month added to your insurance bill.

This premium increase won’t take effect immediately, though. Rather than instantly upping your bill, insurance companies will review your driving record the next time your policy is up for renewal and assign a surcharge for any moving violations found on your record. Keep in mind that tickets are just one of the risk factors that insurers consider when calculating your renewal rate; your age, credit history, coverage levels and other elements of your insurance profile will also impact your rate.

The table below compares average Washington State car insurance premiums for four different driver profiles based on driving record and age.

How speeding tickets impacted insurance for real drivers in Washington

To see how real drivers in Washington State deal with speeding tickets, we turned to Reddit and found anonymous users discussing strategies for keeping a speeding ticket off insurance in forums like r/Washington and r/personalfinance.

* 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 Washington?

In Washington State, insurance companies use a three-year driving record to evaluate risk when issuing or renewing a policy. This means that if you’ve been convicted of a speeding violation in Washington, insurance companies will be able to see that violation and surcharge your policy for three years.

In many cases, insurers will reduce the surcharge on your policy over the course of those three years. However, your base premium could be going up at the same time in response to market forces, meaning that your rate may not drop back down to what you were paying before the ticket once three years have passed. Shopping around during your surcharge period is critical to keeping the most affordable rates.

How to avoid an insurance increase after a speeding ticket in Washington

Keeping a speeding conviction off your driving record is the best way to avoid long-term insurance consequences. If you’re not able to, however, there are still ways to minimize a speeding ticket’s impact on the cost of your coverage.

Try to keep the speeding ticket off your driving record

If your instinct is to pay your ticket fine and move on, you may want to pause and consider the long game. While paying a speeding fine may be convenient (and cheaper!) in the short term, it has the potential to add significantly to your ongoing car ownership costs.

Before paying a traffic fine, look into ways of keeping the speeding conviction off your record, such as:

• Hiring a traffic lawyer: Traffic lawyers are experienced at getting speeding convictions dismissed or reduced to non-moving violations. If the lawyer’s fee is less than the potential long-term cost of insurance, it may be worth it.
• Contest the ticket: If you believe the ticket was issued in error, you may be able to contest it by providing evidence to the court that you were abiding by the speed limit.
• Asking for a deferral: Appearing in court to plead your case can be effective, especially if it’s your first speeding ticket. A judge may agree not to report your ticket for six to 12 months, but you’ll need to stay violation-free for a year and pay a $150 administrative fee.

Shop around for competitive rates after a ticket

If you’re not able to keep your speeding conviction off your Washington State driving record, take the time to shop around and compare rates when your auto insurance renewal date rolls around.

While all insurance companies take speeding tickets into account when setting the price of coverage, not all carrier algorithms treat speeding the same way. The company that gave you the best offer prior to your conviction may not have the best options for you now. According to Bankrate’s analysis of average premiums from Quadrant Information Services, Washington drivers who shop around after a speeding ticket could save as much as $354 per year by switching to a new carrier.

Drive defensively to avoid future speeding tickets

Whether you’re able to keep a speeding conviction off your record or not, driving defensively following a ticket is key to maintaining affordable insurance in the long term. If you got your speeding ticket deferred, you’ll need to keep a clean record during the deferral period to keep the conviction from affecting your insurance.

You can do more to prevent speeding tickets than just engaging your willpower and trying to drive more safely. Consider the following tips:

• Give yourself more time: Planning ahead and making sure that you have ample time to reach any destination you’re driving to is one of the best ways to avoid speeding, especially if it’s become a habit.
• Use an app to track your driving habits: Because speeding is an unconscious habit for many drivers, using an app that tracks your driving in real time and provides feedback can help to curb that habit. You could also earn an insurance discount, in some cases, as you improve your driving skills.
• Take advantage of vehicle tech: Many modern cars provide intelligent speed assistance (ISA) or other tech systems that can track your speed and warn you if you’re exceeding the legal limit. If your car has one of these systems, you may want to turn it on. 

Frequently asked questions

• Is it worth fighting a speeding ticket in Washington State?
  

  For many drivers, fighting a speeding ticket in Washington State is worth the cost of legal representation or other assistance. If you can keep a speeding conviction off of your driving record, you may be able to avoid an insurance premium increase, which could cost you more in the long run.

• Will my insurance company know I got a speeding ticket?
  

  If you pay your speeding ticket fine and the violation is entered as a conviction on your driving record, your insurance company will typically find out when they review your motor vehicle record the next time your policy renews.

• Is one speeding ticket bad?
  

  A single speeding ticket can raise the cost of insurance in Washington State by 20 percent, or an average of $384 per year. While multiple speeding tickets can carry even more severe financial consequences, just one speeding ticket could cost you over $1,000 in the long term.

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.