TLC points and the New York PIRP course

DMV points

On the DMV PIRP page, 11 points for traffic violations in a 24-month period may suspend a driver license. Completing an approved course does not take the tickets off the record. “Point reduction” means the point total used to calculate points received within 18 months is reduced by up to 4 points, and that reduction may help avoid a suspension. DMV subtracts those 4 points only for the suspension calculation when the driver has 11 or more points. The tickets stay on the record.

The course sponsor notifies DMV within 10 weeks. DMV then reduces active points by up to 4. The reduction applies only to violations within the 18 months before completion, it cannot go below zero, it cannot be saved as credit against a future ticket, and it can be used only once in an 18-month period. It does not undo a suspension or revocation that already happened, and it does not stop a mandatory revocation for DWI, DWAI, or three speeding violations within 18 months. DMV points and an insurer’s own point system are separate. The course also does not change a Driver Responsibility Assessment.

TLC points and persistent violators

Local Law 12 of 2020 eliminated TLC’s Critical Driver Program and folded that count into the Persistent Violator Program so a driver is not penalized twice for the same violation. The rule package adopted May 3, 2023 puts the combined rule in 35 RCNY. For a TLC driver license, TLC looks back 15 months from the date of the most recent conviction. At least six but fewer than ten TLC points, DMV points, or both combined can suspend the TLC driver license for up to 30 days. Ten or more can revoke it.

Before that suspension or revocation, TLC deducts three TLC points for a completed Point Reduction Course, or three DMV points for a completed Defensive Driving Course. The deduction counts only convictions within 15 months before the course was completed, and the course has to be finished before the persistent-violator summons is decided. If no Point Reduction Course is available, a Defensive Driving Course can be used, and TLC then deducts three points whether they are TLC points or DMV points. Finishing a course does not erase a suspension or revocation that was already imposed. A TLC driver license has its own application rules on the TLC driver license page.

What the PIRP course is

DMV approves the course. Private sponsors offer it in a classroom, online, or by other delivery methods. The classroom course is 320 minutes, in one or more sessions. It is not a fixed price set by DMV. Fees vary by sponsor, so this page does not list one. There is no formal test. The course has to be repeated once every 36 months to keep the insurance benefit. If more than one named insured finishes it, only the principal operator receives the reduction DMV describes.

Present the completion certificate to the insurer within 90 days and DMV says the liability and collision reduction starts immediately, back to the completion date. After 90 days, the insurer may start the reduction on the date the certificate is presented. Insurance Law §2336(d) uses the same 90-day presentation rule and also lets an insurer start a discount on the renewal date when the certificate arrives within 45 days before renewal.

The premium reduction, including commercial policies

These sources do not use one identical sentence, so they should not be collapsed into a promise about a TLC premium.

• DMV says an approved course reduces the base rate of auto and motorcycle insurance premiums by 10 percent each year for three years. Youthful drivers and assigned-risk drivers who are the principal operator receive that reduction. It does not stop a general premium increase or an increase from violations or crashes.
• Insurance Law §2336(a) says a rating plan for motor vehicle liability and collision insurance submitted to the superintendent shall provide an actuarially appropriate reduction for three years after an approved accident-prevention course. The statute says “actuarially appropriate.” It does not set a flat 10 percent for every policy.
• DFS Circular Letter No. 1 (1980) says that if the principal operator completes an acceptable course, the insurer shall, for three years, reduce the liability premium by no less than 10 percent of the liability base rate in the rating territory. That liability premium includes personal injury protection, bodily injury, and property damage at the limits the insured bought. If that percentage would be inappropriate for an insurer, the insurer may file a different percentage with support. Insurers may also offer a larger reduction, including collision. For a commercial vehicle with a clearly defined principal operator, the circular says the reduction should be given for that vehicle. Where every operator completes the course, the insured should receive it. An operator of a commercial vehicle is also eligible on that person’s own personal policy. This is 1980 guidance.

A TLC for-hire policy is commercial coverage. Whether that policy receives a reduction depends on the insurer’s filed rating plan and on whether the course-taker is the principal operator. This page does not state a TLC premium and does not say every TLC policy receives 10 percent.

Section 2336(a)(2) adds a stacking limit. An insured who receives the accident-prevention reduction on a policy covering a for-hire vehicle is not, during the period in Insurance Law §2353(e), also eligible for an additional reduction on the commercial risk policy for completing the separate for-hire safety course in §2353. Read §2353 for that course’s own terms. This page does not add a second discount on top of the one an insurer has already applied.

When to get a quote

Get a quote before a current TLC liability policy ends, when a vehicle or base changes, or when a driver wants the insurer to see a new PIRP certificate. The certificate is given to the insurer. It is not an FH-1 and it is not the TLC policy. Published TLC minimums, and what happens if coverage lapses, are on the TLC insurance guide and the lapse and plates page.

Questions