Carriers Writing Policies After a Speeding Ticket in Texas

State Farm, GEICO, Progressive, and Allstate all write policies for Texas drivers with one speeding ticket on record, but your rate increase depends on how fast you were going and which tier your violation moves you into. A ticket for 1-10 mph over typically adds 2 points under Texas DPS rules and triggers a 15-25% surcharge at preferred carriers like State Farm or USAA. A ticket for 11-20 mph over adds 2 points but moves you closer to standard-tier pricing at carriers like Progressive or Allstate, where surcharges run 25-35%. Tickets over 20 mph — classified as excessive speeding — often push you into non-standard territory with carriers like The General or Direct Auto, where base rates are higher but acceptance thresholds are more flexible. Your second ticket within three years changes the equation. Preferred carriers like State Farm and USAA may non-renew your policy or move you to their non-standard subsidiaries. Standard carriers like Progressive and Allstate typically keep you but apply compounding surcharges — your second ticket doesn't just add its own percentage, it increases the surcharge applied to your first ticket. At this threshold, non-standard specialists like Bristol West, Dairyland, and National General become your realistic options. These carriers expect pointed records and price accordingly, but they won't drop you for a second speeding ticket the way a preferred carrier will. Texas requires 30/60/25 liability minimums, but carriers writing policies for drivers with points often require higher limits as a condition of coverage. If you're shopping after a ticket, expect quotes to start at 50/100/50 or even 100/300/50 — the carrier is managing their own risk exposure by requiring you to carry more coverage. This raises your premium but also protects you in a second at-fault incident, which would otherwise leave you facing SR-22 territory.

Texas removes moving violation convictions from your DPS driving record after two years from the conviction date, but insurance surcharges last three years from the conviction date on most carriers' rating schedules. This gap matters because your DMV record will be clean before your insurance rate recovers. State Farm, GEICO, and Progressive all use three-year surcharge windows — your ticket stops affecting your rate 36 months after the conviction, not 24 months when it falls off your DPS record. Some carriers tier their surcharges by year. GEICO, for example, applies a 25% surcharge in year one, 15% in year two, and 10% in year three for a single speeding ticket. Others like State Farm apply a flat surcharge for the full three years, then drop it entirely at renewal after the 36-month mark. If your carrier uses a tiered schedule, you'll see incremental rate drops at each annual renewal even while the ticket is still surcharge-active. You can accelerate rate recovery by completing a Texas-approved defensive driving course within 90 days of your ticket. Texas allows one course dismissal every 12 months, and successful completion keeps the ticket off your DPS record entirely — which means no insurance surcharge at all. If you miss the 90-day window, the ticket stays on your record and the surcharge applies for the full three years. Carriers do not retroactively remove surcharges if you complete the course late, so the dismissal window is the only chance to avoid the rate increase altogether.

A speeding ticket for 1-10 mph over the limit adds 2 points to your DPS record and raises your premium by an average of $18-$35 per month at preferred carriers, translating to $216-$420 annually. This assumes a clean prior record and a base rate around $120/month for full coverage. If you were already paying higher premiums due to age, vehicle type, or location, the surcharge applies as a percentage of that base — so a $200/month policy increases by $30-$50/month for the same violation. Tickets for 11-20 mph over also add 2 points but trigger higher surcharges because carriers classify mid-range speeding as a stronger predictor of future claims. Expect increases of $40-$60/month at standard carriers like Progressive or Allstate, or $480-$720 annually. Excessive speeding tickets — 21+ mph over — can double your rate at preferred carriers or result in non-renewal, forcing you into non-standard markets where base rates start 50-80% higher than preferred pricing even before the ticket surcharge applies. Multiple tickets within 12 months compound exponentially, not additively. Two tickets within a year don't just double your surcharge — they move you into a higher risk tier where the base rate itself increases before surcharges apply. A driver paying $140/month with one ticket might pay $220/month after a second ticket within the same year, a 57% total increase. At six points — three tickets in three years — most preferred carriers exit entirely, and non-standard carriers apply surcharges to an already-elevated base rate.

Texas DPS assigns points to moving violations based on severity: 2 points for most speeding tickets and standard moving violations, 3 points for violations that result in an accident. Points accumulate on a rolling basis — each violation carries points for two years from the conviction date, and your total at any moment is the sum of all violations still within their two-year windows. If you get a ticket today and another 18 months from now, you'll have 4 points on your record for six months until the first ticket ages off. Texas does not suspend your license based solely on point accumulation the way states like California or Florida do. Instead, suspension triggers when you accumulate four or more moving violation convictions within 12 months, or seven or more convictions within 24 months. This is a conviction-count threshold, not a point threshold — the distinction matters because a single reckless driving charge counts the same as a 5-mph-over ticket under the suspension rule, even though the insurance consequences differ wildly. Once suspended under the habitual violator rule, Texas requires you to wait out the suspension period — typically 30-180 days depending on your total conviction count and whether you've had prior suspensions — then pay a $100 reinstatement fee and provide proof of insurance to DPS. No SR-22 filing is required for a points-triggered suspension in Texas unless the suspension was related to an uninsured accident or a DUI. If your suspension was purely moving-violation-based, you reinstate with an SR-22-free policy, but expect non-standard carriers to be your only option for the first year post-reinstatement.

Texas allows drivers to take a defensive driving course once every 12 months to dismiss a moving violation, but you must request permission from the court within the appearance window printed on your ticket — usually 10-20 days from the citation date. If the court approves, you have 90 days from the ticket date to complete the course and submit your certificate. Successful completion keeps the ticket off your DPS record entirely, which means no points, no surcharge, and no rate increase. The 90-day window is hard. If you complete the course on day 91, the ticket stays on your record and the insurance surcharge applies for three years. Carriers do not adjust rates retroactively if you complete the course after your next renewal has already processed with the surcharge applied. If you're unsure whether you'll complete the course in time, do not notify your insurer about the ticket — most carriers only learn about violations at renewal when they pull your MVR, giving you the full 90 days to handle the dismissal without triggering an early re-rate. If you've already used your 12-month dismissal window on a prior ticket, you cannot dismiss the current one. Texas DPS tracks dismissal usage by driver license number, and courts will deny your second request within the same rolling 12-month period. In that case, the ticket goes on your record, points apply, and the surcharge takes effect at your next renewal. Some drivers try to delay renewal to push the ticket outside the lookback window, but carriers pull MVRs at every renewal regardless of timing — the ticket will surface whenever your policy renews, even if you've been paying month-to-month for two years.

Your current carrier will apply a surcharge at your next renewal, but that surcharge is not universal — different carriers price the same violation differently, and some carriers specialize in post-violation coverage. Progressive, for example, prices pointed-record drivers more competitively than State Farm because Progressive's actuarial model weighs vehicle type and annual mileage more heavily than violation history. A driver with a single ticket and a low-mileage sedan might pay less at Progressive post-ticket than they paid at State Farm pre-ticket. Shop at least three carriers in each tier: one preferred carrier like USAA or State Farm, one standard carrier like Progressive or Allstate, and one non-standard carrier like Bristol West or Dairyland. Request quotes for identical coverage limits so you're comparing apples to apples — non-standard carriers often quote state minimums by default, which makes their rates look artificially low until you adjust for the coverage gap. A $90/month quote for 30/60/25 is not cheaper than a $130/month quote for 100/300/100 if you actually need the higher limits to satisfy a lender or protect your assets. Timing matters. Most carriers pull your MVR at renewal, not mid-term, so if your ticket was recent and your renewal is six months away, shop now before the ticket hits your current carrier's system. A new carrier will pull your MVR during underwriting and see the ticket, but you may still lock in a better rate than your current carrier will offer at renewal once they re-rate you. If your ticket is already on your current policy and you're mid-term, wait until your next renewal to shop — breaking a policy mid-term to switch carriers creates a lapse risk and most carriers apply a small surcharge for mid-term starts, erasing any savings you'd gain from switching early.