Thursday, January 1, 2009

DWI Affects Your Insurance

Being convicted of an Austin DWI can lead to a multitude of other problems that will eventually arise in the future for you and your overall driving life. When you are first arrested for a DWI, you are going to need an Austin jail release lawyer to help you with your case. There are many things that will be involved in your punishment once you are officially convicted of a DWI in Austin. The austin jail release lawyer can help you with all the first details of the case.The first part of your conviction will be your fine that will be issued. The court will give you anywhere from $500 to $4000 depending on your prior criminal history and what the judge thinks is an appropriate punishment. The next part, jail time, may or may not be part of your punishment. Depending on if you are a repeat offender or if this is your first DWI conviction will help the court make a decision as to whether you deserve to serve a certain amount of jail time or not. The court may also decide to assign you some sort of community service hours depending on what they think is appropriate.

After your entire sentence has been taken care of is when the real effects will happen. One thing to keep in mind is that a DWI is a misdemeanor and will be kept on your record for quite a long time. The first thing that you should worry about is getting your license off suspension. When you are arrested for a DWI they will automatically suspend your license for up to 180 days. This means that after that time period you will need to go back to your DMV and get your license reinstated. There are certain requirements that you will need to follow to get your license back. Your insurance is the next and most important thing that you need to worry about. Insurance companies don't like to have drivers who have been convicted of a DWI on one of their policies. The companies usually consider you a high risk driver and there are many consequences that go along with this. If your insurance company doesn't find out that you have been convicted for a DWI then you will have gotten off lucky but be aware that there is always a chance that they will find out.

When the companies find out that you have a DWI conviction, there are two options that they can take to manage the situation. The first option is that they will completely drop you from their policy. If this happens, keep in mind, they are required to tell the DMV that they did this and your license may be in jeopardy again. The second option that they can take is to drastically raise your premiums. Because you are considered a high risk driver, they are required to have a higher premium to take care of any added damage you may have. In this case, the company is also required to inform the DMV of any changes that may occur in your insurance within the next 3 to 5 years.

For more information, contact the Austin Jail Release Lawyers of Morales and Navarrete at http://www.austinjailreleaselawyer.com

Joseph Devine

1 comment:

Michelle Custodio said...

Thanks for the information. I think getting Austin life insurance would greatly help for you to feel secure of what the future might hold. You must manage your finances as early as now.