Insurance Truth About Accident Forgiveness
- by admin
So called “accident forgiveness” is advertised by insurance companies as some kind of collision cure-all, a panacea to protect premiums, an elixir to entrench – well, you get the idea. Many have suggested it is just an advertising ploy.
Even if accident forgiveness is exactly what it sounds like, do you want to get it on your insurance policy, or is the cost not worth the trouble?
Understanding Accident Forgiveness
After the first time you file a claim for a collision for which you are at-fault, your insurance premiums will normally rocket up 40%. But with accident forgiveness, that first claim will not affect your insurance premiums at all!
That really could save you a lot of money, but it is going to cost you up until that point.
Accident forgiveness is considered an add-on, which means having it will increase your monthly premiums. And the more likely you are to get in an accident, based on your record, the more you will have to pay for it monthly.
On top of that, not everybody is eligible for accident forgiveness. If you are young, a new driver, or have a really bad driving record, you probably won’t be able to get accident forgiveness – and if you do it will cost most than it is probably worth.
Who Should Get Accident Forgiveness?
Obviously, if you are just trying to trim your premiums down so you can save some money and meet your budget, taking on the extra cost probably isn’t right for you.
Parents with teens on their plan – Given that teenage drivers tend to get into a minor accident here and there – which is why insuring them costs so much – you might be tempted to add accident forgiveness to your policy. However, keep in mind that, since teenagers are charged a high premium under the assumption they will get into an accident, one at-fault collision claim doesn’t raise teenager auto insurance much. If you’re the parent of a teenage driver and that’s why you’re considering accident forgiveness, it would be better to save the money on monthly auto insurance premiums.
People with bad driving records – To be honest, if you’ve had more than two at-fault collisions in the last 5 or even 10 years, you are not going to get a chance to get accident forgiveness. It would be bad business for them to sell it to someone whom they suspect is going to get into a crash.
People with clean records – Never caused a collision? Don’t have any real traffic tickets to speak of? You can get accident forgiveness on your auto insurance policy.
Why do you want it? If you search a bit, even after your first collision you will probably find an offer that has increased less than the price you paid for that accident forgiveness in the first place.
Accident Forgiveness Fad Ending?
Allstate, who has the famous accident forgiveness advertisements on television, have stopped selling the add-on in California. They are likely to stop offering it in other states very soon.
Skeptics have claimed that it was merely a marketing gimmick the whole time.
Perhaps it was just an unsuccessful experiment.
Either way, if you are eligible for accident forgiveness, you’d probably be better served comparing online auto insurance quotes.