From what I've seen, the spike is usually pretty brutal at first, but it does ease up a bit after a couple years—assuming you keep your record clean. My cousin had a DUI in Idaho about three years ago, and his premium nearly doubled overnight. After the first year, it dropped slightly, but honestly not enough to celebrate. He switched insurers after two years and finally saw a decent reduction. Shopping around definitely helps, but patience (and staying outta trouble...) seems key.
Does switching insurers always help though? I mean, wouldn't a new company still see the DUI on your record and hike up the price anyway? Curious if anyone's had a different experience or if it's just luck of the draw...
Switching insurers can sometimes help, but honestly, it's not a guaranteed fix. Every company weighs DUIs differently—some might hike your rates sky-high, while others could be a bit more forgiving. I've seen cases where people shopped around and found a better deal, even with a DUI on record. But yeah, the DUI won't magically disappear, so it's more about finding a company whose underwriting guidelines are a bit friendlier. Wonder if anyone's noticed certain insurers being consistently more lenient...?
- From what I've seen, it's kinda like rolling dice—some insurers freak out, others just shrug and bump it up a bit.
- Had a buddy here in Idaho with a DUI a couple years back; he switched around and actually found a pretty decent rate after some digging.
- Weirdly enough, smaller local companies sometimes seem more chill about it than the big national ones... guess they're used to our Idaho shenanigans, haha.
- Definitely worth shopping around though—beats paying classic car rates for your daily beater.
Yeah, it's definitely hit or miss. I've seen some folks get hammered with crazy premiums, while others luck out and find a company that's more forgiving. Smaller outfits do tend to be less uptight about it—probably because they're local and get that stuff happens. Still, even if you end up paying a bit more at first, rates usually mellow out after a couple years of clean driving. Hang in there... it's not the end of the world.
