Yes, if you are convicted. Under Insurance Code section 1861.025, a conviction for DUI, DUI causing injury, or the under-21 alcohol offense makes you ineligible for California’s Good Driver Discount until it is more than 10 years old on the date you apply or renew. The discount is a legal rate class with a required minimum, not a marketing label.

What the discount is

Under Insurance Code section 1861.02(b), anyone who meets the section 1861.025 criteria is qualified to buy a Good Driver Discount policy from the insurer of their choice, and an insurer may not refuse to offer and sell one to a qualified driver. (Certain insurers tied to a motor club or to a long-standing membership organization may still require membership as a condition of applying.) The rate must be “at least 20 percent below the rate the insured would otherwise have been charged for the same coverage.”

Who qualifies

Section 1861.025 sets the requirements, including these:

  • You have been licensed to drive for the previous three years.
  • In the previous three years, you have no more than one violation point, counted as the statute directs. An accident that caused only property damage, in which you were principally at fault, counts as one point for this test in addition to any points for violations connected to it.
  • In the previous three years, you were not the principally at-fault driver in an accident that caused bodily injury or death.
  • In the 10 years before your application or renewal date, you have not been convicted of driving under the influence (Vehicle Code section 23152), DUI causing injury (section 23153), or, for a driver under 21, driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.05 percent or more (section 23140). The list also covers felony DUI convictions under Vehicle Code sections 23550 and 23566 and manslaughter by an intoxicated driver or boat operator (Penal Code sections 191.5 and 192.5(a)).

Why a wet reckless can still cost you the discount

A reckless driving conviction entered in place of a DUI charge, often called a wet reckless (Vehicle Code section 23103.5), is not on the 10-year list. But Vehicle Code section 12810(c) gives a reckless driving conviction two violation points, and the three-year test allows no more than one. So a wet reckless can keep you out of the discount for three years rather than ten. An arrest that ends without a conviction does not trigger the 10-year rule, but an accident in which you were principally at fault counts under the three-year test whether or not anyone is convicted.

How the timing works

The 10-year period runs back from each application or renewal date, not from the arrest. (The statute’s alternative starting point, January 1, 1999, is now more than 10 years in the past, so it no longer matters.) Once a disqualifying conviction is more than 10 years old on your application or renewal date, and you also meet the three-year requirements, you can qualify again.

What this statute does not decide

  • It sets eligibility for the discount. It does not decide whether a particular insurer must keep covering you.
  • It does not set how much your premium will change. Section 1861.02(a) makes your driving safety record the most important factor in auto insurance rates, but no statute fixes a dollar amount for a DUI.
  • It is separate from an SR-22 filing, which is explained on the DUI license reinstatement page. You can need an SR-22 and lose the discount at the same time.

Practical steps

  • When you get a quote, ask whether it is a Good Driver Discount policy.
  • Keep your conviction date and the exact code section you were convicted under. Those decide whether this rule applies and for how long.
  • If your case is still pending, remember that a DUI conviction triggers the 10-year rule, while a reckless driving conviction counts under the three-year points test.

The wider costs of a DUI case are covered on the DUI defense costs page.

Talk to a lawyer

The Law Offices of David S. Chesley can explain how a pending charge or a past conviction affects your record, your license, and this insurance rule. Call (800) 755-5174.