Auto insurance providers are well aware that their policies can be a bit pricey for many consumers, so they offer all sorts of options to make their products and services more affordable and appealing to a wider audience.
Accident Forgiveness Seems Enticing at First Glance
One of those options that has been very popular lately is “accident forgiveness”. Accident forgiveness is an insurance feature that promises drivers will not see increased insurance rates if they are determined to have been at fault of an accident they have been involved in. This sounds very appealing, especially for younger drivers, who tend to get in accidents pretty often, due to their inexperience.
While auto insurance companies tout accident forgiveness as an ideal solution for reducing insurance costs, claiming that it prevents insurance premiums from going up after an at-fault accident, there are a few arguments that can be made against these claims.
Various Restrictions to Be Taken into Account
However, even though this might sound as a pretty simple concept at first glance, there are a lot of details that are often overlooked by drivers, which could make accident forgiveness look like an extra cost that is not worth it. Contrary to what drivers are led to believe, accident forgiveness does not apply to any situation.
Number of Accidents that Are Forgiven is Limited
What’s more, most insurance companies only forgive a limited number of accidents over a certain amount of time. For example, some of them only forgive one accident within a three-year period, others just one six years, which might not be enough for many drivers.
Driving Record is Also a Factor
For instance, drivers might be surprised to learn that their accident forgiveness feature might not apply in case their driving record has not been clean for a certain amount of time prior to an at-fault accident. Insurance companies usually put provisions hidden in the fine print that determine for how long a driver’s record must be clean so that they can qualify for an accident forgiveness discount.
Consider the Extra Cost and the Potential Premium Increase
To determine whether accident forgiveness is worth the cost, consumers should first do their research and find out how much their insurance premiums would increase in case of an accident, because this varies between states and from one company to another. This way, they will know how much they would save in the long term by spending some extra money to purchase the accident forgiveness option that will prevent their rates from going up after one accident claim.
The bottom line is that accident forgiveness might be beneficial to inexperienced drivers who are more likely to get involved in an accident, but they need to make sure they read the fine print and look out for any concealed limitations before getting it.