Big brother (insurance)?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I just got my renewal for my motorcycle insurance policy. The good news is it's uber-cheap - $389 for the year. However I noticed something buried in the quote/bill that caught my attention:

Good Driver Discount:
Your rate reflects a 20% good driver discount.

(then later on the same form)

Driving history:

We considered the following events:

Driver: Description: Date Source:
(my name) speeding Feb 5, 2004 MVR



Yes, I did get a ticket back in early 2004 but I did the "traffic school" option to avoid being assessed any points. So given that, how can the insurance company "consider the following information"?

I don't want to b1tch too much, since I am getting my safe driver discount and the thing should (in theory) drop off after three years anyway (this is what I'm told by my co-worker who got a ticket about 4 years ago - apparently it dropped off his summary - different company though).

Just wondering if it's worth my while to maybe contact the State Insurance Commissioner to see if this company is doing a little "extra" snooping they shouldn't rightfully be doing. . . It doesn't seem to be affecting me adversely, but I'm just wondering what the traffic school really gets me if the ins. company can still see the violation.

I don't want to call the state office and sound like an idiot with my question and OTOH I don't want to call the insurance company and ask "hey, did you guys count that ticket into computing my rate or not?" (they could always come back with, "ohhhh, thanks for reminding us - your new rate is $2,000" or whatever. . .

[Moneyguy1]

I think it is common practice for that kid on info to be shared between the State and the carrier. Like you said, they use it to set your individual rate.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

[Rick V]

My insurance co. hold tickets for 5 years. DMV drops them after 3 but I would still have 2 years to pay for it. Thank (insert deity of choice) for the V1