Most New York State motorists know that you can take a New York insurance reduction course as a way to get a mandatory 10% discount on your auto insurance. The discount lasts for up to 3 years and when it expires, you can simply take the course again and get the discount for another 3 years. You can just repeat this process as many times as you want.
TIP: Take Your New York Insurance Reduction Course Online
While there are some classroom based insurance reduction courses available in classrooms, the vast majority of people prefer to take the online option. The online New York insurance reduction courses are typically faster, cheaper, and to be blunt… less painful than the classroom options (let’s face it, taking an online driving course isn’t exactly a fun way to spend your time).
With that said, it’s totally worth it. The course will cost about $50 to take it online and will take 6 hours of your time. Let’s do some math here. If your auto insurance premium is $100 per month and you get a mandatory 10% discount by going through a defensive driving course, you will save about 10 bucks each month. The discount is good up to 36 months, which means you save $360. Take out your initial $50 course fee and you’ve netted yourself $310 in savings. This might not seem like a ton of money to many people, but if you were offered a super easy job that paid $51.66 per hour and would net you $310 after 6 hours of your time, would you pass it up? I mean, you don’t even have to leave the house!
The real question is, which New York insurance reduction course is the best one? There aren’t a whole lot of options, but you certainly want to sign up for the course that is the fastest and easiest at a fair price, right?
How to Reduce Your Points and Insurance Rate
The Driver Violation Point System gives the New York State DMV a way to identify and take action against high-risk drivers. Here, the DMV assigns points for certain traffic violations. If you get 11 points in 18 months, your driver’s license may be suspended.
Take note though that you must be convicted of the traffic violation before points are added to your driving record. Your point total is calculated based on the date of the violation, not the date of the conviction. And, the points for violations that all occurred within the last 18 months are added to calculate your point total.
Attending the Point and Insurance Reduction Program (PIRP) will help you Reduce Your Points and Insurance Rate in New York.
PIRP is also known as the Defensive Driving Course or Motor Vehicle Accident Prevention Course. It is a comprehensive driver safety course that provides knowledge and techniques for safe and lawful driving. Private companies and organizations all over the state offer the course. To be approved by DMV, courses must meet strict standards for the type of information presented and program effectiveness.
What are the benefits of taking a Defensive Driving/Accident Prevention course?
Completing an approved course will refresh your driving knowledge and remove points on your driving record. Here, four points are ‘subtracted’. Note though that tickets/points do not physically come off your driving record. Check here for more information on the New York State point system.
Although a defensive driving course can reduce the base rate of your auto and motorcycle insurance premiums 10% each year for three years, completing the course does not prevent a mandatory suspension or revocation, eliminate your responsibility to pay a driver responsibility assessment, and give you a way to reduce future driver violation points.
My #1 Recommended Online New York Insurance Reduction Course
My top pick for almost all online driving courses is iDriveSafely. I’ve been reviewing online traffic schools and online drivers ed courses for a while, so I’ve got a pretty good handle on which courses are higher quality and which ones just plain suck. With iDriveSafely, you get U.S. based 24/7/365 customer support via phone, chat, or email and you can log into / out of the course whenever you want. You can finish the course in one day or over a period of time, it doesn’t really matter. You also get the fastest course allowed by law and you’re going with a company that has a proven record. They have had more than 5,000,000 people go through their defensive driving courses over a 20+ year period and still have an A+ Better Business Bureau rating. It’s just the best company to go with.
My #2 Recommended Online New York Insurance Reduction Course
Coming in at a close second is the Improv Comedy Defensive Driving Course. Just like with iDriveSafely, this course allows you to login and logout whenever you want, there is no final exam, it’s the fastest course allowed by law, and you get 24/7/365 support. What makes the Improv Comedy course different is, as you might suspect, they tried to make it as funny and humorous as possible. Taking a defensive driving course is boring, so they combat that issue by having comedians create funny images, videos, skits, and other unique things to spice the course up a little bit. You might actually have a little fun taking this course. It’s a great option.
My #3 Recommended Online New York Insurance Reduction Course
My third and final pick for the New York Insurance Reduction course is the New York Safety Council defensive driving course. The biggest thing this course has going for it is the fact is is associated with the New York Safety Council. However, let it be known that the New York Safety Council is a private organization and is not a part of any government agency. It’s a company just like any other driving school. I mostly recommend this course to those who are a bit short on cash and need the cheapest one available. This course doesn’t offer some of the benefits of the other courses I’ve mentioned, but it is cheap and gets the job done.
Some Frequently Asked Questions About New York Insurance Reduction Courses
How Long Will It Take? The state of New York requires that all New York Insurance Reduction courses, otherwise called IPIRP (Internet Point And Insurance Reduction Program) are 6 hours in duration.
How Often Can I Complete The Course? You are allowed to complete a defensive driving course for a mandatory 10% insurance discount every 3 years.
Does The Insurance Reduction Course Also Lower My Driving Points? Yes! You are able to remove up to 4 points from your driving record by completing a state approved defensive driving course, including the online courses posted above. Note that you may only remove points from violations that have occurred in the previous 18 month period and completion of the course will not affect future violations.
What Do I Have To Do Once I Complete The Course? The course you sign up for will notify the New York DMV once you have successfully finished the course. Your successful completion will then be noted on your driving record, at which point you can notify your auto insurance agent and receive your mandatory 3 year 10% insurance discount.
Do The Courses Have “Course Timers” On Them? Unfortunately, yes. This is a requirement by the state of New York, so any legitimate course will have a course timer.
Is There A Final Exam? Nope! While some courses may opt to have one, it is not a requirement. None of the recommended courses above have a final exam.
Is It Possible To Fail The Course? While you do need to obtain a 70% score or higher on some quizzes, you can take the quizzes as many times as you want until you obtain a passing score. This is why most courses guarantee you will pass.
How Long Do I Have To Finish My Defensive Driving Course? You must complete the course within 30 days after signing up. Don’t procrastinate!
Can Everyone On My Policy Get The Discount? While this will depend on your specific insurance carrier / policy, generally only the primary driver of the vehicle is eligible for the discount. You may be able to obtain discounts on other vehicles if you are not listed as the primary driver.