A speeding ticket can raise your insurance rates by an average of 38.4% in Indiana. Shopping for new rates should be your first step after paying your fine.

Written by Shannon Fitzgerald

Reviewed by Jessica Barrett

Updated on Jan 31, 2024

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2 steps to deal with a speeding ticket in Indiana
Calculate your Indiana speeding ticket penalties
Your insurance will go up after a speeding ticket—here’s how to lower it
When are insurance companies notified of speeding tickets?
The best car insurance companies after a speeding ticket in Indiana
FAQs

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A speeding ticket in the state of

Indiana

carries fines starting at around $100, along with 2 to 6 demerit points on your Indiana

driving record

. You can pay the fine—and take on a potential 38.4%

car insurance

increase—or fight it in court.

2 steps to deal with a speeding ticket in Indiana

Step 1: Decide whether to pay or fight the ticket

If you prepay your ticket, you’re essentially pleading guilty to speeding and whatever applicable demerit points will be deducted from your Indiana driving record.

Step 2: Shop for car insurance before your next renewal

Your auto insurance company will only find out about your speeding ticket when your policy is up for renewal—but your rates will go up by an average of 38.4% at that time.

How to pay your ticket

If you were indeed driving above the speed limit, paying for your ticket before your court date is one of the simplest ways to deal with a speeding ticket.

To pay your ticket, head to the

www.indy.gov

website. Then:1

Navigate to “Pay Online for Indy Services”

Select “Traffic Tickets”

Click on the green button “Get Started”

Enter your ticket number, driver’s license number, name, and date of birth

Follow the prompts to pay for your speeding ticket

If you pay your ticket online using a debit or credit card, the court will charge a transaction fee on top of your fine.

If you prefer paying your traffic ticket in person or with a personal check, you can go to your local county clerk’s office. If you reside in the capital, you can also go to the Community Justice Campus, located at 675 Justice Way, Indianapolis, IN 46203. Traffic ticket payments happen in room W122 of the City-County Building.

Important note: The due date for an Indiana traffic ticket payment is 60 days after receiving it.

How to get a speeding ticket dismissed

If you feel you received your speeding ticket by mistake, you can appear in court to dispute the ticket. The most effective arguments for getting a speeding ticket dismissed include:

Defective radar or officer error: If you can prove that your ticket was issued due to malfunctioning traffic cameras or improper use of a radar gun by law enforcement, it could be dismissed.

Defective speedometer: If you didn’t know that you were speeding because your vehicle’s speedometer was broken, you may be able to get your ticket dismissed.

Medical emergencies: If you were speeding due to a medical emergency, the court may grant you a dismissal.

Keep in mind: Your speeding ticket is more likely to get dismissed if you’ve maintained a clean driving record with no previous moving violations or traffic citations.

Not knowing Indiana’s speeding laws is not a good speeding ticket defense. Whether you’re an out-of-state or first-time driver, don’t try to fight your ticket by claiming ignorance.

Learn more:

How to get a clean driving record (and save on insurance)

Calculate your Indiana speeding ticket penalties

When you get a speeding ticket in Indiana, you’ll face two main types of penalties:

Fines & fees: Indiana will fine you anywhere between $44.50 and $1,000 for driving over the speed limit, with fines reaching the high end of the range if you exceeded the speed limit in a work or school zone. You’ll also pay around $130 (or more) in processing fees.

Demerit points: Depending on how much over the speed limit you were going, you’ll have two to six points deducted from your driving record. These demerits stay on your record for two years.

If your speeding ticket is actually a reckless driving charge or misdemeanor, you could face jail time on top of costly fines. Finally, if you accumulate more than 18 demerit points in a 24-month period, you could face a

license suspension

Indiana speeding ticket fines and court costs

In Indiana, fines for speeding tickets are determined by the county in which the ticket was issued. Costs vary, but they typically range between $100 and $200 for minor speeding violations.

Here are some estimated speeding fines in Fishers, IN2. Though the total cost of court fees and ticket fines will depend on the court listed on your ticket, they will likely reflect the values below:

Ticket	Fine	Costs	Total
Speeding 1 - 15 mph over the limit	$44.50	$139.50	$184
Speeding 16 - 25 mph over the limit	$64.50	$139.50	$204
Speeding 1 - 15 mph over a school zone limit	$54.50	$139.50	$194
Speeding 16 - 25 mph over a school zone limit	$74.50	$139.50	$214
Speeding 1 - 15 mph over neighborhood limit	$64.50	$139.50	$204
Speeding in a work zone	$300 to $1,000 depending on number of offenses

In general, speeding 25 mph or less over the limit is classified under Type C infractions, meaning the fines and penalties are minor. Meanwhile, speeding over 25 mph or in a construction or school zone is a Type B infraction with higher fines and penalties.

The Indiana speeding ticket point system3

Speeding offense	# of demerit points	# of years on driving record
1 - 15 mph over posted limit	2	2 years
16 - 25 mph over posted limit	4	2 years
25 miles over posted limit	6	2 years

Your insurance will go up after a speeding ticket—here’s how to lower it

Speeding tickets carry long-term costs beyond your initial fines and processing fees. Car insurance is the most important: in Indiana, drivers see their auto insurance premiums go up by an average of 38.4% after a single speeding ticket.

Once you’ve paid your fine, it’s time to take action to keep your insurance rates affordable. Here’s how.

1. Check your renewal date and comparison shop

Your car insurance premium won’t increase until your policy renewal, so the first thing you should do is check your policy details for your next renewal date. If it’s months away, that’s good news: you’ll keep paying your current rate for the time being!

When you receive a renewal notice from your insurance company, take note of your renewal rate. It should include a surcharge for your speeding ticket, which your insurer will have noted from your most recent

motor vehicle report (MVR)

With your renewal rate in hand, compare car insurance quotes from other providers to see if any of them offer a lower rate for drivers with speeding tickets.

To do this quickly, you can use the

Jerry

app and review personalized offers from multiple insurers at once.

Don’t forget to reshop often once you have the best rate. As your Indiana driving record changes following a speeding ticket, you should gradually become eligible for lower rates. If you purchase car insurance through the Jerry app, you’ll be able to keep up to date with those rate decreases by turning on automatic reshops—so your insurance premium always reflects the best version of your driving record.

Turning on automatic reshopping in the Jerry app is easy.

This tool automatically sends you price check alerts when your policy is up for renewal and notifies you any time a new insurer starts offering policies in your region with the potential for cheaper rates.

Learn more:

Car insurance renewal—are you ready for your new rate?

2. Take a driver improvement course

Indiana allows drivers to enroll in a

Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV)-approved Driver Safety Program

for a chance to add a 4-point credit to an Indiana Official Driver Record upon successful completion of a BMV-approved DSP. This applies once every three years.

3. Take advantage of discounts

In addition to adding surcharges to your policy, a speeding ticket can break your clean driving streak and remove any good driver discounts you may have had on your policy. But there are other

car insurance discounts

that could help you save, including:

Telematics discounts (i.e., tracking your driving)

Good student discounts

Paid-in-full discounts

Responsible payer discounts

Low-mileage discounts

When are insurance companies notified of speeding tickets?

Your insurance company won’t learn about your speeding ticket

until your policy is up for renewal

. That’s when insurers review your motor vehicle report for any new traffic infractions.

If your renewal date is a week away, expect your rate to increase then. If it’s in six months, you will keep paying your current rate until after your policy renews.

The best car insurance companies after a speeding ticket in Indiana

Here’s how major insurance companies tend to handle rate renewals after a speeding ticket:

Insurance company	Average rate increase after a speeding ticket
Allstate	15%
USAA	17%
American Family	22%
Nationwide	26%
State Farm	26%
Farmers	31%
Auto-Owners	36%
Travelers	37%
GEICO	38%
Progressive	43%

Remember: Every auto insurance provider deals with traffic offenses differently. Depending on your existing driving record, the number of years you’ve been with your insurer, and whether or not you plead guilty to your speeding ticket, your insurance premium could go up by less—or more—than this table shows.

Where’d we get these numbers?
Jerry’s editorial team researched the average rate increase after a speeding ticket for these 10 insurance companies using expert sources from Forbes, NerdWallet, ValuePenguin, WalletHub, Liberty Mutual, The Zebra, and CarInsurance.com. Our data shows the average of the data shared by these sources.

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FAQs

How much is a 20 mph over speeding ticket in Indiana?

Fines vary by county in Indiana, but you can expect to be charged around $200 for driving 20 mph over the posted speed limit. This includes the fine itself and the processing costs.

Can I just pay my ticket and not go to court in Indiana?

Certain Indiana traffic violations, like a DUI or extreme speeding, may demand a court appearance (and that will be indicated on the ticket). However, for more minor speeding tickets, going to court isn't necessary–you can pay the fine online or in person.

Will I lose my license if I don’t fight a speeding ticket?

While you likely won’t lose your license for one speeding ticket, you can temporarily lose your driving privileges if you accrue too many points on your record.

In Indiana, minor speeding tickets add 2 to 4 points to your license, while excessive speeding—over 25 mph—adds 6 points. Once you receive 20 or more points, your license will be suspended for up to 12 months.

Should I fight or pay my speeding ticket?

If you believe you were wrongly ticketed and you have evidence to back up your claim, fighting your ticket is worth it. You may also be able to argue for a lesser citation to reduce your ticket fine and penalty.

However, the traffic court will need to be convinced—if you have no proof to confirm your innocence, you may be better off just paying the fine.

SOURCES

https://public.courts.in.gov/Pay#/

https://www.fishers.in.us/212/City-Court

http://iac.iga.in.gov/iac//iac_title?iact=140