Pull Your Own DMV Record Before an Insurer Reads It

Every quote you get starts with a record pull. The company types in your license number, and the record that comes back decides whether the number it showed you survives. Reading your own record first takes a few minutes and removes the most common reason a quote changes after you say yes.

Three ways to request it

The online route is the fastest. If an employer, a court or a lender asks for a certified copy, use the mail form. The DMV sets a small fee for each method.

What the record shows

The DMV no longer produces the old "H6" or "10-year" printouts. Under Vehicle Code section 1808, today's record reports three things:

• Convictions, kept for three, seven or ten years depending on the violation. The DMV says most two-point violations are reported for ten years from the violation date, and other traffic convictions for three.
• Departmental actions — suspensions, revocations and restrictions, with their start and end dates.
• Collisions, reported for three years from the collision date (longer for some commercial-vehicle entries). A collision you reported on an SR 1 appears whoever caused it.

Your address does not appear on screen. It prints on the copy only if you ask and the address you give matches your DMV record.

What to check, line by line

1. Name and date of birth. They should match your license and your policy exactly.
2. Each conviction. Note the violation date, because that date — not the day you paid the ticket — is what most lookback periods run from.
3. Each collision. Make sure you recognize it. Being on the record is not the same as being found at fault.
4. Any action, such as a suspension for an unfiled SR 1 or a failure to appear (FTA), and whether it shows as ended.

If something is wrong

The DMV takes corrections on form DL 207 (Report of Incorrect Record) or DL 207A for a traffic collision entry. You can also present an Abstract/Document Error form DL 157, an abstract of the court record, or a letter from the court or law enforcement agency. Fix it before you shop, then ask for fresh quotes; a quote built on a record with an error in it is a quote built on someone else's history.

How insurers use what you just read

Your driving safety record is the first of the three factors California ranks above all others (Insurance Code section 1861.02(a)). The Good Driver Discount looks at the previous three years: no more than one violation point, no at-fault injury accident, and other tests in Insurance Code section 1861.025.

What varies by insurance company: how far back it looks for a given entry, how it surcharges a conviction within the legal limits, and how it handles a collision where you were not principally at fault. Ask each company which entries on your record it is counting.

Once you have the record in hand, request a quote and tell us what it shows — the number we give you then is the one that holds.