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My Insurance or My Spouse’s? An Insurance Company's Exclusions and Limitations: Are You Covered? Get the Precise Small Business Insurance You Need Do I Need an Insurance Agent? Track Down Your Driving Record How Insurance Premiums Are Calculated Why Aren’t Floods and Earthquakes Covered?
Track Down Your Driving Record
Car insurance companies and employers looking to hire safe drivers can check out your driving record to see your driving history. If you’ve got DUIs, speeding tickets or other traffic violations, it might mean paying higher insurance premiums or not qualifying for a job opportunity. Likewise, uncorrected errors on your record can cause you similar problems.
What’s On It?
Your driving history, or motor vehicle record (MVR), contains all your traffic violations, accidents and convictions (such as DUIs). It also contains personal information about you including your address, age, height, weight, hair and eye color, sex, birth date and driving restrictions. On average, driving records contain three years of information.
Where Can I Get My Driving Record?
State's motor vehicles department keeps a record of your driving history. The name of the form you need to fill out to request your motor vehicle report (MVR) varies depending on the state. You can access your record from the DMV online, in person or through the mail. You will need to provide evidence that you are the person on the record by supplying identification. While particular states may vary in their requirements, your driver’s license, birth certificate or state identification card usually will suffice. Contact your state’s DMV for specific requirements.
Privately owned companies can also access your driving record for you. They normally will charge you an additional fee beyond the one that the DMV requires. Check with the company to find out what information you need to supply in order to receive your record. Some businesses use your credit report to obtain your driving history from the DMV.
Each state charges its own fee. Some states allow you to access driving records for free, others charge about 20 dollars. Contact your DMV to find out the fee amounts for the different types of MVRs. You can either select a standard or certified driving history. It can take a couple of weeks to receive your certified MVR.
Who Has Access to It?
Driving records are a public record. However, not all personal information included on them is available to the public. To protect your privacy, some information on the record is only available to those who meet certain requirements. You can obtain the individual’s personal information if you have written consent from that person or you meet the legal exemptions. One of these legal exemptions is when the information is for court proceedings. If you don’t qualify to see the personal information, you can still see driving and other violations but you can’t see social security numbers, driving restrictions and so forth.
Errors on Your Record
Nothing’s worse than being blamed for a bad deed you didn’t commit. Sometimes other people’s information can end up in your record by mistake, and the error can affect your car insurance rate if you don't correct it. If you discover information that doesn’t belong on your record, contact the DMV and let them know -- they can help you correct the errors. Checking your driving record occasionally can help keep your driving record free of errors.
