What is accident forgiveness ?

Some insurance companies use the term accident forgiveness to assure you, the customer, that if you were to meet with an accident they will not drop your risk rating to lower levels -- a direct consequence of which would be higher auto insurance premium. While accident forgiveness policies would vary from company to company, some will not put you at the lowest rating for the first at-fault accident, while others will raise your premium, but not to a large extent.

Generally, the insurance coverage would have a built in accident forgiveness policy or may be purchased as an endorsement on the policy.

If accident forgiveness is a built in feature of your insurance policy, and you have an otherwise clean driving history, the insurance company may decide to either totally forgive the accident or just offer partial forgiveness and raise the premium just a little. Normally, however, accident forgiveness would kick in only for the first accident. Subsequent accidents may not be covered under the accident forgiveness program so be sure to check with your insurance provider on the precise nature of the arrangement.

A caveat: Even though accident forgiveness would mean leniency from your current insurance provide, at least for the first accident, it does not roll over to future insurance policy purchases. So, if you were to switch auto insurance providers the accident would still be on your record and you may still be subjected to higher premiums from the other insurance provider.

Now may be the time to switch

It may not be a good idea to wait until you meet the first accident to switch auto insurance providers, especially if your current company does not offer accident forgiveness. The best time to switch, if you desire to, would be when you have a clean record. This will not only ensure you lower rates, but will also enable you to win accident forgiveness protection from a subsequent carrier.

As always, we are here to serve you. Use AutoInsuranceQuotes.net to compare, shop, and save hundreds of dollars on auto insurance policies offering accident forgiveness. We guarantee the lowest car insurance prices in the market.

We hope you enjoyed our article "what is accident forgiveness".