How a Speeding Ticket Impacts Your Insurance in Tennessee

Fines for a speeding ticket in Tennessee can range from around $50 to $100 or more, depending on the municipality that issued the ticket. But the ticket fine is just the beginning of the financial cost of a speeding conviction in Tennessee, which can impact your insurance premiums for three to five years. On average, the total cost of a Tennessee speeding ticket in added insurance premiums is between $1,485 and $2,475 over the course of those years. 

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

On average, insurance premiums in Tennessee go up by 25 percent after a single speeding ticket conviction. That’s an average increase of $41 added to your insurance bill each month. 

Keep in mind that your speeding ticket won’t affect your insurance rates until two things happen. First, you must be convicted of the violation, either by paying the fine or by appearing in court and being found guilty. Once the Driver Services Division processes your conviction and adds it to your driving record, it will appear the next time your insurance company reviews your motor vehicle report (MVR) — typically at your policy’s next renewal. 

While impactfault, your speeding ticket is just one of the rating factors that your insurer will consider when calculating your renewal rate. Your age, your previous driving record and a host of other factors can impact how much you’ll pay for car insurance after a speeding ticket in Tennessee. The table below compares average Tennessee rates for drivers of different ages with and without a speeding conviction. 

How speeding tickets impacted insurance for real drivers in Tennessee

To get a closer look at how drivers in Tennessee handle the insurance impact of speeding tickets, Bankrate’s insurance editorial team looked at local Reddit forums. Reddit users in r/Knoxville, r/Nashville and r/Memphis shared a number of strategies for keeping a speeding ticket off their insurance record.

How long does a speeding ticket stay on insurance in Tennessee?

Tennessee maintains motor vehicle records (MVRs) for three- and 10-year intervals. As a result, if your insurance company is reviewing your three-year MVR, a speeding ticket will typically stay on your insurance for about three years in Tennessee. 

During that three-year period, some insurers will gradually decrease your surcharge if you maintain a clean driving record. However, your base premium — that is, your insurance bill without the surcharge for your ticket — may also increase during the same period as market forces drive up the cost of coverage and carriers raise rates. As a result, when your speeding ticket finally ages off of your insurance, you may not be paying the same rate you paid before the ticket. It’s worth comparing car insurance quotes at least once a year for three to five years following your speeding conviction.

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

Keeping a speeding conviction off of your driving record is the best way to avoid an insurance increase following a ticket in Tennessee. If you’re not able to keep the ticket off your record, however, there are still ways to save. Consider the strategies below to manage the insurance consequences of your speeding ticket. 

Try to keep the speeding ticket off your driving record

In most cases, the best course of action may be to keep the ticket off of your record entirely. This may be easier to do if it’s your first speeding ticket and you’re generally a safe and responsible driver. 

Because different municipalities in Tennessee handle speeding tickets slightly differently, start by asking the clerk of the court that issued the ticket about your options. You may be able to have the ticket dismissed by: 

• Pleading “no contest”: In most cases, paying the fine for a Tennessee traffic ticket is treated as an admission of guilt. However, if you appear in court and plead “no contest”, you may have a chance to request that the ticket be dismissed or that the conviction not be added to your license.  
• Going to traffic school: If you’ve already paid your fine and accepted the conviction, traffic school won’t remove the conviction from your driving record — but if you haven’t yet paid, you may be able to ask the court to keep the ticket off your record in exchange for traffic school completion. 

Shop around for competitive rates after a ticket

If you’re not able to keep your speeding conviction off your driving record, comparing rates from different insurance companies may be the best way to lower the cost of your coverage. That’s because each insurance company uses its own rating algorithms to calculate premiums — and the company with the best rates for you before your ticket might not be the one with the cheapest insurance for your new risk profile. 

Bankrate’s analysis of average premiums from Quadrant Information Services found that Tennessee drivers could save as much as $2,062 per year by switching to a new carrier after a speeding ticket conviction. 

Drive defensively to avoid future speeding tickets

While you wait for your ticket to drop off of your insurance, maintaining a clean driving record is key to avoiding future rate hikes. If your insurance company reviews your driving record and sees repeated driving violations, such as multiple speeding convictions, they’re more likely to view it as a pattern of unsafe driving rather than a one-off mistake. As a result, you could be looking at much steeper rates and even insurance denials if you rack up enough violations. 

To keep your record clean and your insurance affordable, focus on cultivating safe driving habits. You can: 

• Take a defensive driving course: A defensive driving course can teach you concrete strategies to avoid accidents and violations on the road — and you may even be able to earn an insurance discount.
• Enroll in telematics: In addition to offering potentially discounted premiums, most insurers’ telematics programs provide real-time feedback on your driving and could help you to curb bad habits like hard braking and speeding.
• Give yourself time: Rushing and driving distracted can lead to speeding. Budget your time so that you’re less likely to be in a hurry on the road and can focus on safe, responsible driving.
• Use your car’s technology: Many modern cars have built-in safety tech that can help you reduce your risk of moving violations, such as intelligent speed assistance (ISA). If your car has one of these systems, learn how to use it and keep the system enabled to improve your safety. 

Frequently asked questions

• Will a speeding ticket affect my insurance in Tennessee?
  

  In most cases, a speeding ticket can affect insurance premiums in Tennessee if you fail to have the ticket dismissed or brought down to a non-moving violation. Once the conviction is processed and entered into your official driving record, insurance companies can see it and add a surcharge to your policy to account for the added risk you present to them.

• What is the best car insurance company for drivers with a speeding ticket?
  

  The best car insurance companies for Tennessee drivers with speeding tickets vary depending on a wide range of factors, including driver age and experience, coverage needs and personal priorities. For example, Geico — the 2025 Bankrate Award winner for Best Auto Insurance Company for High-Risk Drivers — may be a good option for some drivers with a speeding ticket, but it might not be ideal if you prefer to do business in person or if you need certain types of coverage, such as gap insurance. If you’re not sure which company is best for you, shop around either on your own or with the help of a licensed agent or broker.

• Can I just pay my ticket and not go to court in Tennessee?
  

  You may have the option to pay your speeding ticket fine and avoid a court appearance in Tennessee, but doing so may cost you significantly more in the long term. If you pay your ticket without going to court, it will be counted as a “guilty” plea, and the conviction will typically appear on your driving record, leading to an average insurance premium increase of 25 percent. Appearing in court, with or without a traffic attorney, could help you to keep a speeding conviction off of your driving record, thus saving you the added insurance costs.

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.