Maintaining safe driving habits can reward you in more ways than one. In addition to keeping yourself, your passengers, and others safe on and around the road by reducing the risk of accidents, you also stand to earn generous discounts on your car insurance premium. That's because car insurance companies love to reward policyholders who have a much lower risk of filing claims with an average of between 10% to 30% in savings on their coverage.
A local independent insurance agent can help you determine your eligibility for a good driver discount on your car insurance. They can also get you set up with a policy if you're still in need of coverage. Until then, here's a closer look at good driver car insurance discounts.
What Are Good Driver Discounts?
Good driver discounts can be rewarded to car insurance policyholders for a couple of reasons. The first is by keeping your driving record free of violations, such as tickets for speeding, for a set number of years.
Another way to earn this discount is by completing a defensive driving course that's approved by your insurance company. Some good driver discounts are automatic and your premiums will slowly decrease over time. Others, you may need to ask for.
How Do Good Driver Discounts Work?
Many types of good driver or safe driver discounts are available, but the specific discounts offered vary by insurance company. Safe driver discounts typically fall into these main categories:
- Driving habits or usage-based discounts: Often referred to as telematics discounts, these are based on GPS trackers the insurance company offers to install in your car. Often, you can use an app on your smartphone to achieve the same effect. Your driving habits will be monitored by the GPS or app and the data gets sent directly to your car insurance carrier, which may increase or decrease your rates accordingly.
- Driving record discounts: These discounts are based on your record of tickets and accidents over time. The longer you remain free of traffic violations and accidents, the more of a discount you stand to earn. Many car insurance companies require policyholders to have remained accident-free and traffic violation-free for a period of at least three to five years before they can start saving.
- Accident-free discounts: Sometimes, car insurance companies offer a specific discount just for remaining accident-free for a set period of time. This period can vary but is often at least three to five years.
- Violation-free discounts: Your car insurance company may offer a separate discount for remaining free of traffic violations for a set period of time. Often, this time period is at least three to five years.
- Safe driver discounts: Many car insurance companies offer a combined safe driver discount that considers policyholders who have remained both accident-free and violation-free over time. This discount may be higher than the separate discounts and is often rewarded to drivers who maintain clean records for at least three to five years.
Ask your independent insurance agent to check if you qualify for any kind of good driver discount on your auto insurance.
What Do Insurance Companies Consider to Be a Clean Driving Record?
Car insurance companies consider you to have a good driving record if you've remained free of incidents for at least a few years, often three to five. Your car insurance company may approve you for a safe driver discount if you've remained free of:
- Speeding tickets
- Other traffic violations (e.g., reckless driving)
- DUIs or DWIs
- At-fault accidents
Keeping a clean driving record greatly increases your chance of saving money on your coverage. Car insurance companies don't want to see that their insured drivers have a higher risk of filing claims they'll have to pay out, which can be indicated by violations and accidents on a policyholder's driving record.
That's why you stand to save money on car insurance by remaining not only claims-free but accident-free and traffic violation-free. Your safe driving behaviors demonstrate your low risk of ever filing a car insurance claim with your carrier. In addition to lower premiums initially, they may start to reward you with a discount or multiple discounts over time.
How Do I Get a Good Driver Discount?
You need to maintain a clean driving record to be eligible to receive a good driver discount. Practice safe driving habits and defensive driving habits, and look into taking a defensive driving course for extra savings. Your independent insurance agent can check for any car insurance discounts you may be eligible to earn through your carrier directly.
Further, if you're not getting the best rate on your coverage or could be earning discounts not offered by your current carrier, your agent can help shop and compare policies from other insurance companies for you. Overall, your agent will help you save the most money possible on your car insurance if you're a safe driver. They can also check for other car insurance discounts you might be eligible for, including homeowner or renters discounts, or discounts for insuring more than one vehicle.
Tips for Earning and Maintaining a Good Driver Discount
There are a few easy ways you can initially earn a good driver discount, but it's also wise to consider how you can keep this discount over time. To maintain your good driver discount, consider the following habits:
- Reduce distractions: Stay off your phone and avoid texting and other distracted behaviors while driving to greatly reduce your risk of accidents. Your messages and other notifications can wait until you're safely parked to be checked or responded to.
- Practice gentle braking and accelerating: If your vehicle is monitored by your car insurance company, be sure to avoid slamming on your brakes or accelerator. These practices not only increase your risk of accidents, but they're also hard on your vehicle.
- Drive less often: Quite simply, the less often you drive, the less risk of accidents and violations you have. That's why some car insurance companies reward drivers who aren't on the road as often with low-mileage car insurance discounts.
- Ask about accident forgiveness: Sometimes, accidents can't be avoided. If you have an accident on your record, you can still ask your carrier about accident forgiveness. Though it's not a discount, it can help you avoid an increase in your rates.
Your independent insurance agent can recommend additional tips for gaining and maintaining safe driver discounts on car insurance.
What Does "Drive Safe and Save Discount" Mean?
A "Drive Safe and Save" discount is a specific kind of car insurance discount offered by certain carriers. It's a type of telematics car insurance discount offered to customers who allow their carrier to monitor their driving habits over time. Those who practice safe driving behaviors may be rewarded with lower premiums, and even discounts as time goes on.
What is a good Drive Safe and Save score?
What's considered a good score for the "Drive Safe and Save" program varies by insurance company. Often, these programs come with a safety score that falls between 0% and 100%. A score rating of 100% is the most ideal. Generally speaking, the higher your score, the more savings you're eligible for.
Does Drive Safe and Save penalize you?
Often, the Drive Safe and Save program doesn't penalize drivers unless they're using their cell phones while their vehicle is in motion. However, it's typically only a penalization if the phone screen is on and the phone is moving while the vehicle is moving, too.
The Benefits of Working with an Independent Insurance Agent
Independent insurance agents have access to multiple insurance companies, which means they can shop and compare quotes and policies for you. Not only that, but your agent can also find any discounts you qualify for to help reduce your premiums as much as possible. And down the road, your agent will still be there to help file car insurance claims for you or update your coverage as necessary.
Sources
https://www.valuepenguin.com/good-driver-car-insurance-discount
