Kemper Specialty With Points: What Drivers Should Expect

Kemper Specialty occupies the space between standard carriers that decline at first violation and non-standard carriers that write any licensed driver. The carrier writes drivers with 1-3 moving violations in a 3-year window, positioning itself for the single-speeding-ticket and minor-at-fault-accident segments that State Farm and Progressive increasingly decline at renewal. Appetite stops at 3 violations or 6 points within 36 months, whichever threshold the state uses. A driver with two speeding tickets from 18 months ago typically qualifies. A driver with three tickets in 24 months does not, even if total points remain under the state's suspension threshold. The carrier evaluates violation count and point total separately, declining when either limit is breached. Kemper Specialty does not write SR-22 or FR-44 filings in most states. Drivers whose violations triggered a license suspension requiring proof-of-insurance filing must move to true non-standard markets like The General or Direct Auto. This filing restriction eliminates roughly half the pointed-record population from Kemper's addressable market.

Kemper Specialty applies violation surcharges as percentage multipliers on base premium, not flat fees. A minor speeding ticket (1-15 mph over) typically triggers a 20-25% increase. A major speeding ticket (16+ mph over) or at-fault accident with property damage triggers 35-50%. The percentage structure means drivers with expensive vehicles or high coverage limits pay proportionally larger surcharges. Surcharge duration runs 36 months from violation date, not conviction date or policy renewal date. A ticket dated February 2023 carries a surcharge through February 2026 regardless of when the driver bound the policy. Carriers pull Motor Vehicle Reports at quote and renewal; the violation appears on the MVR until the state removes it, but Kemper's surcharge clock runs independently of state DMV reporting windows. Stacked violations compound surcharges multiplicatively in year one, then revert to the highest single surcharge in years two and three. Two speeding tickets dated six months apart generate a combined 45-55% increase in the first 12 months, dropping to 25-30% after the older violation ages past its first anniversary. This tiered decay structure rewards drivers who avoid additional violations during the surcharge period.

Kemper Specialty evaluates all violations dated within 36 months of the quote date, regardless of whether the driver has completed a defensive driving course or the state has removed points from the DMV record. State point-removal programs affect license suspension risk but do not reset the insurance lookback clock. A driver who completes traffic school to erase 2 points still carries the underlying violation on their insurance record for the full 3 years. Declination triggers include: 3 or more moving violations in 36 months, 6 or more points in 36 months, any DUI or reckless driving conviction in 5 years, any license suspension in 36 months (even if reinstated), or any lapse in coverage exceeding 30 days in the prior 12 months. These triggers apply at quote and at renewal. A driver who binds with 2 violations and receives a third ticket 8 months into the policy term faces non-renewal at the 12-month anniversary. The carrier does not offer accident forgiveness or violation forgiveness programs. Every surcharge-eligible event generates a rate increase. Loyalty discounts and bundling discounts apply after surcharges are calculated, reducing the post-surcharge premium by 5-15% but never erasing the underlying violation penalty.

Kemper Specialty writes liability limits from state minimum up to 100/300/100 in most states. Drivers with violations pay the same surcharge percentage regardless of coverage level, making higher limits proportionally more expensive but not subject to additional underwriting restriction. A driver paying $140/month for state minimum liability after a speeding ticket surcharge would pay approximately $210/month for 100/300/100 — the base premium doubles, the surcharge percentage stays constant. Collision and comprehensive coverage remain available to pointed-record drivers, but deductible options narrow. The carrier typically offers $500, $1,000, and $2,500 deductibles on clean records but restricts drivers with 2+ violations to $1,000 minimum. This deductible floor increases out-of-pocket exposure on small claims and makes full coverage less attractive for older vehicles where the annual premium exceeds 15-20% of vehicle value. Uninsured motorist coverage is bundled at the liability limit in states that allow rejection; Kemper does not offer stacked UM or separate UM limits for drivers with violations. Medical payments coverage and rental reimbursement remain available as optional endorsements with no violation-specific restriction.

Kemper Specialty pulls Motor Vehicle Reports during the quote process, not at bind. Undisclosed violations discovered during underwriting review trigger quote withdrawal or policy rescission within the first 60 days. Drivers should request their own MVR from the state DMV before shopping to confirm which violations appear and their associated point values. State DMV websites typically offer online MVR requests for $8-15 with 3-5 day delivery. Quotes generated through direct channels (Kemper's website or call center) and quotes generated through independent agents pull the same MVR data but apply different discount structures. Independent agents can layer on agency-specific discounts and compare Kemper Specialty against 4-6 other carriers in a single session. Direct quotes move faster but lack competitive context. Drivers with 2+ violations benefit from the agent route; the rate spread between Kemper and the next-best option often exceeds 30%, and only an agent comparison surfaces that gap. Renewal quotes arrive 30-45 days before the policy expiration date. Kemper re-pulls the MVR at renewal, meaning a ticket received 10 months into the policy term appears on the renewal quote even if the driver has not yet disclosed it. Drivers who receive a violation mid-term should expect the surcharge to apply at renewal, not immediately.

Surcharges drop off at the 36-month anniversary of the violation date if no additional violations occur. A speeding ticket dated March 2022 stops affecting the premium in March 2025, assuming the driver's MVR stays clean. The rate decrease happens automatically at the next renewal after the 36-month mark; drivers do not need to request a re-rate, though requesting quotes from competing carriers at the 3-year mark often produces better results than waiting for Kemper's renewal offer. Drivers who add a second or third violation before the first violation ages out reset the recovery timeline. The surcharge decay structure means the rate drops slightly as each violation crosses its 12-month anniversary, but full recovery to clean-record pricing requires a 36-month violation-free window from the most recent event. A driver with tickets in January 2023 and October 2023 reaches clean-record pricing in October 2026, not January 2026. Competing standard carriers like State Farm and Progressive typically re-open appetite at the 36-month clean-record mark, making the 3-year anniversary a natural shopping trigger. Drivers paying $185/month with Kemper Specialty after violations age out can often drop to $95-120/month by moving to a preferred carrier once their record clears. Under current state DMV point rules and carrier underwriting guidelines, the 3-year window remains the industry standard lookback for moving violations, though DUI and reckless driving convictions carry 5-7 year surcharges at most carriers.