Mass. gets new safe driver plan, too

January 2, 2006

The new year also brings a new Safe Driver Insurance Plan for Massachusetts drivers in addition to lower rates.

The revised plan will provide discounts for the state’s best drivers and offer incentives for bad drivers to improve their driving records and realize lower rates, according to Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler. The revised SDIP more closely resembles how insurers evaluate driving records in most other states.

How the revised SDIP will work beginning in 2006:

  • The current SDIP steps of 9 to 35 will be replaced with a point system in which drivers will be assigned points based on at-fault accidents and moving violations incurred in the last five years of driving experience.
  • Point values for minor and major traffic law violations and minor and major at-fault accidents will remain unchanged.
  • The “Clean-in-Three” provision approved in 2005 for experienced drivers with only one at-fault accident or moving violation in the past five years will be expanded in 2006 to include all drivers who have been licensed for at least three years. This reduces the points assigned for surchargeable incidents when a driver has no more than three and all incidents are more than three years old.
  • Drivers with five years of clean driving experience (formerly SDIP Step 10) will receive an “Excellent Driver Discount” and those with six or more years of clean driving experience (formerly SDIP Step 9) will receive an “Excellent Driver Plus Discount.”
  • Bodily injury claims resulting from at-fault accidents will now be included as surchargeable incidents.
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