North Dakota's insurance premium reduction: how it works and who qualifies

What does North Dakota actually promise?

More than most states. Most states leave course-based premium reductions to each insurer's goodwill. North Dakota wrote one into the insurance code.

NDCC 26.1-25-04.1 says every rate filing for motor vehicle liability and physical damage insurance "must provide for an appropriate reduction in premium charges for the principal operators of motor vehicles for at least a two-year period following their successful completion of a motor vehicle accident prevention course." A driver who is fifty-five or older when they complete the course is entitled to three years.

Two words in that sentence carry the whole thing, and most people read past both.

"Appropriate" means your insurer picks the number

The statute does not say ten percent, five percent, or any percent. It says appropriate, and it leaves the figure to each company's rate filing with the Insurance Commissioner. So the reduction exists at every insurer writing auto policies in North Dakota, but how much it is worth depends on whose policy you hold.

That is why we never quote an amount, and why the one call worth making before you enroll is to your agent: "What is your crash prevention course reduction, and how do I claim it?"

"Principal operator" means one driver, one vehicle

The reduction goes to the principal operator of the vehicle, and if the policy covers several vehicles, it applies only to the one that driver principally operates. A household with two drivers and two cars can earn two reductions, but it takes two certificates.

The vehicle has to be a private passenger car, or a pickup or van with a gross vehicle weight under 10,000 pounds that is not used for delivering goods, unless that is incidental to the operator's business.

The two policies the reduction skips

The statute excludes two kinds of operator, and insurers apply both:

• A driver whose premium is subject to an experience rating.
• A driver already receiving a driver education premium reduction.

If either describes you, the course still teaches what it teaches, but the law does not require a second reduction on top.

The line on your bill

Here is the part that protects you. The statute requires the reduction to be "separately disclosed," and your premium billing must show it for the person who earned it. So you do not have to take anyone's word that it was applied. Read the next bill after you send the certificate. If there is no line for it, call with the certificate in hand.

Which course counts

Only a course approved by the superintendent of the North Dakota Highway Patrol. That approval is separate from NDDOT's, which covers courses for taking points off a record. The Highway Patrol publishes its list of approved online courses; our approval status is shown at the top of our course pages.

The Highway Patrol's rule, NDAC 38-08-02, sets what an approved course has to cover: at least four hours, the cost of crashes and why they are preventable, what to do when a wheel drops off the pavement, seat belts, alcohol and drugs, younger and older drivers, aggressive driving, signs and signals, right-of-way, speed, stopping distance, passing, and driving in poor visibility, snow, ice and rain. Our course is built to that list, topic by topic.

What you do with the certificate

Under NDAC 38-08-04, the course sponsor issues a certificate of completion in a form the Highway Patrol approves. We issue yours the moment you pass. There is no state database and no reporting system; you give the certificate to your agent or insurer, and they apply the reduction. Step by step, here.

Who this is not for

A driver who needs points off a North Dakota record. That is NDDOT's program, under NDCC 39-06.1, and it needs an NDDOT-approved course. We offer that one separately; this guide sorts out which you need.

For the lower premium, it is four hours online and $24.99, certificate included.