Like all states, North Carolina has laws in place prohibiting you from driving while impaired. If a North Carolina law enforcement official stops your car and charges you with DWI, you may face possible jail time, hefty fines and other repercussions in the aftermath.
Per Insure.com, you should also expect your auto insurance rates to rise in the wake of a conviction for drunk driving in North Carolina. How much of an insurance rate increase should you expect?
Predicting rate increases
While a DWI is one variable that impacts how much you have to pay for auto insurance, many other factors also help determine how much you have to pay each month for coverage. If you had a pretty typical North Carolina driving record before your first DWI, you may have paid somewhere around $1,170 per year for insurance coverage. Yet, after a first-time DWI, you are looking at paying closer to $5,508 a year for coverage. This is a massive, or 371%, increase.
Shopping around for the most favorable rate
Not all auto insurers use the same formula when deciding how to set your rates. Also, some insurers may give you a more favorable rate after a DWI than others, and some may decide not to cover you at all after a DWI conviction. Thus, it makes sense to get quotes from multiple insurance providers to see which one charges you the least.
On the national level, auto insurance rates increase by anywhere from about 28% to 371% after a drunk driving conviction. This means that, as a North Carolina motorist, you face the highest post-DWI insurance rate increase in the nation.