When a Company Won't Write a Good Driver

The Good Driver Discount is written into California statute, and the statute goes further than a discount. Insurance Code section 1861.02(b)(1) says a qualifying person may buy a Good Driver Discount policy "from the insurer of his or her choice," and that an insurer "shall not refuse to offer and sell" one to them. A regulation, 10 CCR 2632.14.3, adds the paper trail.

Who qualifies

You qualify under Insurance Code section 1861.025 if, in short:

• you have been licensed for the previous three years;
• you have no more than one violation point in those three years, where a principally-at-fault accident that damaged only property counts as one point;
• you were not principally at fault in an accident causing injury or death in those three years; and
• you have no DUI conviction in the previous ten years.

Two narrow exceptions exist. Certain long-established motor club and membership-group insurers may require membership first, and an insurer may refuse a Good Driver policy on a motorcycle unless every named insured has three years of motorcycle licensing.

How to ask for it

1. Tell the agent you meet the Good Driver criteria and ask to be quoted a Good Driver Discount policy.
2. Complete a written application. The rules on refusal are built around it.
3. Watch the clocks in 2632.14.3. It counts as a refusal if the agent fails to let you complete an application, or to respond to a phone inquiry, within three business days; tries to discourage you from applying (other than pointing out better terms elsewhere); or fails to bind coverage within fifteen business days of a completed application.
4. If you are refused, ask for the written statement. It must arrive within ten calendar days of the refusal, delivered personally or by first-class mail, and it must set out in detail all the facts the refusal rests on. A bare conclusion does not satisfy the rule.

Keep copies of everything you send and receive, with dates. The timelines in the regulation only help you if you can show when each step happened.

The regulation also requires that, when you first ask about a policy, you are told an insurer must give a good driver a written statement of reasons for any denial.

What to check on your declarations page

Once you are insured, confirm the policy is rated as a Good Driver Discount policy; ask for it in writing if the declarations don't say. 10 CCR 2632.14 also requires Good Driver policies to be sold on the same terms, conditions, options and services as the company's other auto policies, including premium payment terms, and a good driver can buy minimum-limits liability, add comprehensive or collision, or choose any limits and deductibles the company sells.

When it isn't worth it

• When the written reasons reveal a real disqualifier, such as a second point you had forgotten. Then the useful move is to diary when it ages out.
• When another company offers you a better Good Driver price. The right is to buy from your chosen insurer, not to a particular price, so insisting on one company does not always pay.

If a refusal still looks wrong, the California Department of Insurance takes Requests for Assistance on unfair underwriting practices. Or skip the fight and compare Good Driver quotes from several companies at once.