In Italy the merit classes are 18, with the first one being the most virtuous in terms of leftism and then to go down to the eighteenth. The system operates on the basis of the conduct of the vehicle owner and first-time insurers are assigned to Class 14.
The merit class is updated annually based on the driving behaviour observed during the previous insurance year.
In particular, you advance or recede based on the number of road accidents caused with main or equal liability (when the sum of claims in the last 5 years exceeds 51%) during the previous insurance year.
With no claims with responsibility in the observation period you earn a class, resulting in a reduction of premium; with a claim instead a malus of -2 is applied and, for every claim after the first one, a malus of -3 is applied. Claims with principal or equal liability shall be charged to the risk certificate.
The lower the driver’s merit score is, the lower the insurance premium will be. For example, a driver in first class merit will have a lower insurance premium than a driver in tenth class merit.