In MA, driving records are broken into 3 and 6 year increments for surcharges. A driver can be "clean in three" and begin to earn back safe driver points one point per year until the 6 year mark. At that point, the surcharge points fall off. Points are issued from the surcharge date, which may not always match the incident date.
Manager, Marindependent Insurance Services LLC, California
It depends on the state you are in, the insurance company you are referring to, and a few other factors.
But there is really is no such thing as a clean record. You will always have an accident or a ticket on your record, it just will not show up on a report that pulls recent incidents.
Also remember that when enough time passes that a violation no longer gets surcharged, you still don't see any possible decrease until your next renewal. This is because violations don't get added on to, nor taken off of a policy until the renewal period. That's why you should choose six month policies over twelve month policies if your record isn't clean.
But there is really is no such thing as a clean record. You will always have an accident or a ticket on your record, it just will not show up on a report that pulls recent incidents.