Once you factor in fines, court costs, possible ignition interlock device requirements and similar penalties, it becomes clear that a South Carolina driving under the influence conviction is going to cost you a substantial amount of money. Regrettably, some of the expenses resulting from your DUI may stay with you for years to come, and one such expense you may see is a substantial uptick in your automotive insurance premiums.
According to Insure.com, insuring yourself behind the wheel may become decidedly more difficult or expensive for you in the wake of a DUI conviction. Why? For starters, some insurance companies may decide to drop you or cancel your auto insurance policy entirely, deciding that you prove to be too much of a liability because of your existing DUI conviction. Even if your insurer does decide to continue to cover you after your DUI, you should anticipate the company raising your insurance rates by a significant amount for years to come.
Just how much more might you pay annually for automotive insurance in South Carolina following a DUI conviction? Most people in your shoes who are facing their first DUIs find that their annual insurance premiums rise almost 60% following their convictions.
In dollars and cents, this works out to an annual increase of about $798 for the average motorist who has a DUI. Without that DUI, you may have paid about $1,353 a year for car insurance if you otherwise had a fairly typical driving record. After that DUI conviction, though, you are looking at paying closer to $2,151 annually to insure yourself behind the wheel.
