How Speeding Tickets Impact Massachusetts Auto Insurance

The Massachusetts Safe Driver Insurance Plan is an optional insurance plan by the state Registry of Motor Vehicles for providing insurance premium reductions to those drivers with safe driving histories. The Safe Driver Insurance Plan, also known as SDIP, is not mandatory for Massachusetts insurance companies; they are free to develop their own models if they choose.

The SDIP evaluates a driver’s history in terms of of “surchargeable incidents,” such as accidents, speeding tickets, civil traffic citations, and criminal traffic violations. More serious surchargeable incidents are assigned greater numbers of “surcharge points,” while lesser incidents receive fewer or no points. For example, a major accident will be assigned four surcharge points, while a minor traffic law violation may result in two or none, depending on the circumstances. The evaluation considers the previous six years of the driver’s history. Incidents older than six years are not factored into the evaluation. Generally, those drivers with few or no surchargeable incidents will be eligible for reduced insurance rates under the SDIP.

Drivers with at least five years of driving experience and no surchargeable incidents within the previous five years are awarded a rating of Excellent Driver. However, if a driver has only one minor traffic violation in the previous five years may be rated an Excellent Driver, as long as the violation was non-criminal and occurred at least three years ago. Drivers with at least six years of surchargeable incident-free driving and six years of experience will be awarded a rating of Excellent Driver Plus.

Surcharge points expire as time passes. The SDIP’s “Clean in 3” provision reduces the surcharge points assigned to surchargeable incidents for those drivers with at least three years of driving experience, fewer than four surchargeable incidents, and have had at least three years since their most recent surchargeable incident. Drivers must also possess a valid license in order to be eligible for SDIP provisions.