In California accidents are reported for 3 years (36 months) from the accident date. If you are found to be at fault, the accident normally counts as 1 point. Most other minor traffic offense convictions will also remain on your record for 3 years from the violation date and count as 1 point.

The Department of Insurance for California does not mention that insurance companies can only look at your driving record for three years. Generally insurance companies can go back three, five or seven years to look at a person's driving history.

Many insurance companies will look three years back on a driver's history for minor infractions but will look back for major violations, i.e. DUI, for a longer period of time, such as seven years.

We asked the Department of Insurance about this and their response was that accidents and minor moving violations may be used for 36 months in determining the driver’s safety record for eligibility and surcharging of a Good Driver Discount policy. It is addressed under Section 2632.16 of the California Code of Regulations.

If you need more assistance on researching the California laws and regulations in regards to specific insurance information the representative noted that you may reach the Consumer Communications Bureau at 1-800-927-4357.

So for more information on this topic contact the CA Department of Insurance or Department of Motor Vehicles.