Save Money on Your Auto Insurance with Defensive Driving Programs

Jeremy Cherriman, Personal Lines Account Representative, brings you this money-saving tip.

For all of our clients who reside in Delaware, there is a greatly underrated auto insurance discount option available: Defensive Driving.

Despite the program’s descriptive title (and the 3-point credit it applies to your drivers license) many Delaware drivers have taken this course for the 10-15% discount it provides on significant portions of their auto insurance. The 10% discount is applied upon completion of the 6-hour initial (or Basic) course and is good for 3 years before needing to be renewed. After the initial three years, the Delaware licensed driver is eligible for the 4-hour Advanced (or Refresher) version of the course which provides the 15% discount to those same parts of the policy for another 3 years. Our clients generally save as much as the course cost (sometimes much more with youthful or other expensive drivers) in the first 6 months, with the next 2½ years providing a huge return on investment. You are then eligible to maintain that higher discount by simply retaking the Advanced course every 3 years.

This program was created by the State Insurance Commissioner and is maintained by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The course can be taken in a classroom setting or online, but DMV doesn’t offer the courses directly. Instead, 3rd-party course providers are certified to provide the course material and valid certificates upon course completion. DMV maintains the official list of certified course providers at the following website: Driving Courses - Division of Motor Vehicles (de.gov). Courses completed in the classroom generally provide a paper certificate, often with a tear-off portion for delivery to your insurance agent. Online courses usually provide a PDF certificate by email or download. Either way, the certificate will identify the driver, which course was completed, and the date of course completion so the discount can be properly applied to your insurance policy. Certificates must be provided to the insurance company for the discount to be applied to your auto insurance policy, but they are required to honor the completion date when applying the discount.

All auto insurers are required to provide this discount option to Delaware residents, so we fully recommend taking advantage of this great program. Do you have further questions about this discount program or how to take advantage of it? Don’t hesitate to contact us by phone, email, or in person!