Does a BUI Conviction Affect Your Automobile Insurance?

Can a Georgia BUI Conviction Raise Your Auto Insurance?

Answer:

In theory, no — but in practice, often yes. A BUI has no legal effect on your driver’s license and doesn’t appear on your driving record with the Department of Driver Services. However, insurance companies are private entities that can, and frequently do, use a BUI conviction as justification to raise your rates. If you’ve been charged with a BUI and need help, give us a call.

Why BUI and DUI Are Treated Differently on Paper

Georgia’s implied consent and administrative suspension framework for boating offenses is entirely separate from the one governing driver’s licenses. Under O.C.G.A. § 52-7-12.5, a BUI arrest and conviction can lead to a suspension of your privilege to operate a vessel — but that’s a distinct credential from your driver’s license, and it isn’t logged on the driving record the DDS maintains for vehicle operation. In other words, on paper, a BUI is not a DUI, and it doesn’t carry the same automatic driving-record consequences.

Why Insurance Companies Don’t See It That Way

Auto insurers price policies based on risk, and a BUI conviction is a criminal record showing impaired operation of a vehicle-like conveyance — which is exactly the kind of history insurers look for when assessing whether someone is a higher-risk driver, regardless of whether it technically hit your driving record. Many insurance applications and renewal questionnaires ask broadly about criminal convictions or any history of impaired operation, not just DUI specifically, giving insurers an opening to factor a BUI in even though the state doesn’t formally connect the two records.

The Real-World Impact

Because insurers set their own underwriting standards, the effect of a BUI on your premiums can vary significantly from one company to another. Some insurers may not ask about it at all; others may treat it similarly to a DUI when calculating risk and setting rates. This inconsistency makes it worth reviewing your policy’s renewal terms and disclosure questions carefully after a BUI, and shopping around if your current insurer responds by raising your rates.

What to Do If You’ve Been Charged

Because a BUI conviction can carry consequences beyond the courtroom — even ones the law doesn’t formally impose — it’s worth fighting the underlying charge with the same seriousness as a DUI. If you’ve been charged with a BUI and need help, give us a call.

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Not to mention his level of professionalism. From the first time we spoke to the first time we saw him in court. He stood out from almost every other attorney there. We were so appreciative that our attorney looked and was so professional, pulled together and prepared. When so many others were none of these things.

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I tried to write this several times and it brought me to tears. First may I say this has been the hardest three years of my life. Five lawyers I interviewed and none even understood the law as it applied to my case. So I thought I would try one more and it was Brett. From our first conversation together I knew he understood the law and was the perfect one for the case. I want to say how he prepared the case and presented it, achieving a full dismissal and ruling the police violated my first amendment rights. Complete genius!!!!

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