How long do "at fault" accidents stay on your driving record?

102503Natalie · March 2010

My husband was involved in two back-to-back accidents, one was his fault, the other was not his fault, but since the responding officer didn't ticket the other driver, it shows as his fault on our insurance. Both accidents happened around May of 2008. How long until they're off our record? We pay an assload for our insurance.

ElizC · March 2010

It really depends on your insurance company. Different companies look back farther than others. Everything is always technically on your driving record. My DH had a ton of driving issues he was younger, when he got pulled over a year ago. Some arrogant officer yelled at DH for his awful driving record. He hadn't even had a traffic stop in over 5 years.

Gina418 · March 2010

DH's insurance will "forgive" him this year - 3 years clean of accidents.

:::knocks furiously on wood::::

Sharon&Paul · March 2010

I was just looking at insurance quotes today and they were asking if you had an at fault accident in the last 6 years.

IU_baby · March 2010

It completely depends on your insurance company. I had two accidents within 11 months of one another in 2004 (my fault) and 2005 (not my fault) but they showed up when we got new insurance in November.

They did not affect our rates, but they still showed.

Sherriberry · March 2010

Around here it's at least 6 years, sometimes 9.

yoko589 · March 2010

It usually doesn't affect you after 3 years but it never goes away. The company I work for looks back as far as 5 but we only count the last 3. It also shows what coverage it was paid under. If it was property damage or collision, then it's at fault. If not, then it's looked at as not an at fault accident.

femmeftle9 · March 2010

It takes a few years. It also depends on how many demerits he received on his license. You may want to check into driving school for your DH to get his good points back up. I don't know about where you live, but in VA we can even go to driving school online now.