What Happens if You Don’t Pay Your Parking Ticket?

In Illinois, when you get a parking ticket, you’re expected to pay it within a certain amount of time. It can be a pain to deal with, especially when you weren’t counting on additional expenses. But more importantly, it can have a serious effect on you if you don’t pay it off.

The City of Chicago’s official site points out that there are penalties for not paying off your parking ticket on time. Though the collection rates can differ from city to city, a typical rule of thumb is that a ticket’s cost will go up every time you miss the deadline. In Chicago, the ticket price will double. This can be a huge detriment to some people when most parking tickets already start off at $75 for the base offense. Additionally, the city you live in may impose a collection fee if you continue missing your payment due dates. This fee can run up to 22 percent.

That’s not all. If you continue missing your ticket payments, the Secretary of State could choose to add points to your driver’s license. If you get involved in a particularly severe backlog, you might face even harsher penalties like having your license suspended or even revoked. And all of this can happen just because of a parking ticket.

For such a minor traffic violation, some of these penalties likely seem entirely too severe. If you’re facing this kind of punishment for a traffic ticket or are struggling to pay your ticket off, you may want to get in touch with a legal professional who can help you handle the case.