The following summary is a general overview of the Safe Driver Insurance Plan (SDIP) and its impact on underlying rates. For specific details, refer to the governing regulations, 211 CMR 134.00 and the documents entitled “Administrative Procedures For Safe Driver Insurance Plan - Policy Inquiries” and “Administrative Procedures For Safe Driver Insurance Plan - Claims,” as published by the Merit Rating Board.  

Surcharge Points/Experience Period 

Each listed operator on a policy is assigned an Operator Surcharge Factor or a Credit Factor based on the operator’s driving history record. The Operator Surcharge Factor is the factor applied to the otherwise applicable rate which reflects the number, type, and age of Surchargeable Incidents during the Policy Experience Period. The Credit Factor is either the Excellent Driver Discount, awarded to operators with Incident-Free Periods of more than five but less than six years, or the Excellent Driver Discount Plus, awarded to operators with Incident-Free Periods of at least six years. The Experience Period is the six year period immediately preceding the effective date of the policy. The points for the 2006 policy year, and subsequent policy years, will range from 0 to 45; the Commissioner may establish or modify this point range annually. The Merit Rating Board will compute and report to the Insurer the total number of operator Surcharge Points or Credits  for each listed operator. 

Operators New to Massachusetts 

If an application for insurance indicates that an operator new to Massachusetts was licensed outside of Massachusetts within the last six years or such operator is being added to an existing policy, the operator’s Policy Experience Period will begin as of the effective date of that policy until the company receives an authorized inquiry response from the Merit Rating Board indicating the operator’s credit or surcharge points. 

If an operator’s Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) is electronically available, the company will be responsible for obtaining it from the state or country where the operator was licensed.  Driving history on MVRs obtained from more than one state or country must be combined by the company and considered as one report.  An acceptable MVR must have three years or more driving history, unless the operator has been licensed less than three years.  If there are no motor vehicle violations or at-fault accidents shown on the MVR, the company must submit an SDIP policy inquiry to the Merit Rating Board in compliance with its Administrative Procedures.  An operator’s MVR with motor vehicle violations or at-fault accidents must be submitted to the Merit Rating Board.  The Merit Rating Board will determine the operator’s credit or surcharge points. 

If an MVR is not electronically available, the operator’s Policy Experience Period will begin as of the effective date of the policy until the company receives an authorized inquiry response from the Merit Rating Board with the operator’s actual credit or surcharge points.  The operator may obtain an official driving record or a record from a previous insurer and submit it to the company.  If the driving record is not in English, a translation certified as true and correct by the translator must be obtained by the operator and attached to the driving record submitted to the company.  An acceptable driving record must have three or more years driving history, unless the operator has been licensed less than three years.  If there are no motor vehicle violations or at-fault accidents shown on the operator’s record, the company must submit an SDIP policy inquiry to the Merit Rating Board in compliance with its Administrative Procedures.  An operator’s record with motor vehicle violations or at-fault accidents must be submitted to the Merit Rating Board.  The Merit Rating Board will determine the operator’s credit or surcharge points. 

Classification of Surcharge Points

SDIP surcharge points are assigned as follows: 

        Minor traffic law violation            2 points                 Major at-fault accident       4 points

        Minor at-fault accident               3 points                 Major traffic law violation    5 points       

A claim payment for Bodily Injury Liability, Damage to Someone Else’s Property, Collision or Limited Collision of at least $500 and up to $2,000 constitutes a minor at-fault accident.  A claim payment of more than $2,000 constitutes a major at-fault accident.  An “at-fault” accident is one in which the company determines that the listed operator is more than 50% at fault. 

Surcharge points are not assigned to a non-criminal minor motor vehicle traffic law violation if it is the first such violation or if it  occurs in the sixth (oldest) year in the operator’s six year Policy Experience Period. 

Calculation of Premium Adjustment 

The SDIP credit or surcharge factor is applied to Compulsory Bodily Injury (Part 1), PIP (Part 2), Property Damage (Part 4) and Collision (Part 7).  

The SDIP premium adjustment is the last step in the rating process after all discounts and rating factors have been completed.

Total Operator SDIP points are based on the Incident Free Period. When the Incident Free Period is less than or equal to three, the total number of Surcharge Points applicable to the operator shall be the sum of the surcharge points identified for each Surchargeable Incident in the Policy Experience Period. When the Incident Free Period is greater than three and the total number of Surchargeable Incidents in the most recent five years of the Policy Experience Period is three or less, the Surcharge Points applicable to each incident shall be reduced by one and the total number of Surcharge Points applicable to the Operator shall be the sum of those reduced surcharge points. In no event shall the surcharge points for any single incident be reduced below zero.

Assignment of Operators to Vehicles

The assignment of operators to vehicles is made in accordance with the provisions of Rule 28.

Excellent Driver Discount and Excellent Driver Discount Plus