Merit Rating in Private Passenger Automobile Liability Insurance and the California Driver Record Study

For a great many years individual automobile risk merit rating has existed in various parts of the world. A workable system has been in use in the British Isles for many years. Messrs. Bohlinger and Morrill report that in England a policyholder is entitled to a “no claim rebate” if he makes no claim under the policy. “If no claim is made for a single policy year, the reduction is 10% upon renewal; if no claim is made for two years consecutively, the reduction is 15% and if no claim is made for three consecutive years, 2O%.“l They report that New York State used a merit rating plan in 1929. This was shortly abandoned because of defects in administration and abuses in its application which defeated the purpose for which it was intended.