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Does defensive driving lower your car insurance?
Some states require a discount for an approved defensive driving course, and your insurer sets it. Age 55 is the line in Florida, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. In New York, any insured can get it. We cover no other state.
By State Cert GuideChecked against the sources listed below.Published
The steps, in order
Ask your insurer
The insurer sets the discount
Check your state's rule
Some states require a discount
Take a course both accept
A course ordered for a ticket may not count
Send your certificate
Four steps in order: ask your insurer, check your state's rule, take a course both accept, send your certificate. The insurer sets the discount.
What the rule says
What is the free first step?
Call your insurer. Ask which course it accepts and how much it takes off. Then check that your state accepts the course before you pay.
[source pending]
Who gets the discount in Florida?
An insured age 55 or older who is the main driver of the car. Florida requires insurers to lower the premium for liability, personal injury protection and collision coverage after that driver finishes a course the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles approves.
Florida Statutes · Section 627.0652 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Who sets the amount in Florida?
The insurer. The law asks for an appropriate discount and gives no percentage. It adds that any discount an insurer uses is presumed appropriate unless credible data shows otherwise.
Florida Statutes · Section 627.0652 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
How long does the Florida discount last?
3 years after you finish the course.
Florida Statutes · Section 627.0652 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Can a Florida insurer take it away?
It can require, as a condition of keeping the discount, that you have no accident that was your fault and no conviction, guilty plea or no contest plea for a moving traffic violation.
Florida Statutes · Section 627.0652 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Does a court-ordered course count in Florida?
No. The Florida law does not apply if you take the course as punishment ordered by a court or other public agency for a moving traffic violation.
Florida Statutes · Section 627.0652 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
What does Minnesota require?
An appropriate discount of at least ten percent on private passenger vehicle policies. The insurer sets the amount at or above that minimum.
Minnesota Statutes · Section 65B.28 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Who gets the Minnesota discount?
Insureds 55 years old and older who complete the state's course or its refresher course.
Minnesota Statutes · Section 65B.28 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
How long is the Minnesota course?
The course must be a total of four hours.
Minnesota Statutes · Section 65B.28 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
How do you keep the Minnesota discount?
Retake the course, or take the refresher course, every three years. You get a certificate each time.
Minnesota Statutes · Section 65B.28 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
What does New York require?
Insurers must give any insured an actuarially appropriate discount on liability and collision coverage for a three year period. The insured has to finish the National Safety Council's defensive driving course, or a course the Department of Motor Vehicles approves as equivalent.
New York Insurance Law · Section 2336 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Does a self-study course count in New York?
No, unless article twelve-C of the vehicle and traffic law allows it. There is no discount for a self-study course, or for a course with no real classroom time for a minimum number of hours the Department of Motor Vehicles sets.
New York Insurance Law · Section 2336 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Does the New York law apply to a program you take because of a traffic infraction?
Not to a program under article twenty-one of the vehicle and traffic law that you attend as a result of any traffic infraction. The statute says the law does not apply to that.
New York Insurance Law · Section 2336 · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Who gets the discount in Pennsylvania?
A policy on which every named insured is 55 or older and has finished a driver improvement course that meets the standards of the Department of Transportation.
Is there a minimum in Pennsylvania?
Yes. The discount may not be less than 5%.
How long does the Pennsylvania discount last?
It applies to policy periods that begin within the three-year period after you finish the course.
How do you keep the Pennsylvania discount?
Take an approved course every three years.
Can a Pennsylvania insurer take it away?
It may require, to give and keep the discount, that for three years after the course you have no chargeable accident, no conviction for an offense on the state's points list, and no conviction or accepted Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition for driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance.
Can a Pennsylvania insurer skip the discount?
It can show the commissioner, in its rate filing, that the discount duplicates a course discount it already gives. Then the required discount may be omitted.
What about Texas?
TDLR says any licensed driving safety provider may offer a 6-hour course that can be used for ticket dismissal or insurance discounts. This page has no Texas law that sets the discount, so ask your insurer.
Where people go wrong
- Paying for a course before you call your insurer is the first trap. The insurer sets the discount, so ask what it accepts and what it takes off.
- Some courses may not count. Florida's law skips a course taken as punishment ordered by a court or other agency after a moving violation. Pennsylvania's skips a course a court or other agency orders after a conviction for a points-list offense. New York's skips a program under article twenty-one of the vehicle and traffic law that you attend because of a traffic infraction.
- In New York, a self-study course does not earn a discount unless the vehicle and traffic law says otherwise.
- The discount ends. Florida's lasts 3 years, and Pennsylvania wants a new course every three years.
- A new accident or offense can cost you the discount. Florida and Pennsylvania let the insurer require a clean record.
- In Pennsylvania, every named insured on the policy has to be 55 or older, so check each name before you count on it.
Questions
Do two courses earn two discounts?
Not in Pennsylvania. Its law says finishing more than one course within a three-year period does not qualify you for additional discounts.
Who sends my certificate to the insurer?
Plan on doing it yourself. In Texas, TDLR says that is your job. In Florida, the group that gives the course issues you a certificate you can use to qualify.
Who writes the Minnesota course rules?
In Minnesota, the commissioner of public safety. Ask your course provider to show that the course qualifies in your state.
Your next step
Before you pay for a course, find out what your insurer accepts. Then read your state agency's own page for the current rule.
Sources we read
- www.flsenate.gov › Florida Statutes § 627.0652 · read Nov 13, 2026
- www.revisor.mn.gov › Minnesota Statutes § 65B.28 · read Nov 13, 2026
- www.nysenate.gov › New York Insurance Law § 2336 · read Nov 13, 2026
- www.palegis.us › 75 Pa.C.S. § 1799.2 · read Nov 13, 2026
- www.tdlr.texas.gov › taking a course · read Nov 12, 2026
Who publishes this guide
State Cert Guide is an independent guide to what each state requires. If a fact on this page is wrong, tell us and we fix it.