Accident Forgiveness

Accident Forgiveness for Southeastern MA & South Coast MA Drivers

As your local insurance agent, one of our top priorities is making sure that you and your loved ones are properly protected for whatever life might throw at you. Ensuring you have comprehensive personal insurance policies in place, such as home, auto, and umbrella insurance, is one of the many ways that we help safeguard the people and things that are most important to you.

In addition to the “big three” mentioned above, there is one other personal insurance coverage option that we recommend to almost all of our clients, regardless of their tolerance for risk. It’s called Accident Forgiveness and it is a particularly smart investment for today’s Massachusetts drivers.

This additional endorsement is an extremely cost-effective way to add an extra layer of protection to your current auto insurance policy. It also offers you and other drivers in your household a financial back-up plan in the event you are involved in an at-fault accident while driving around Southeastern Massachusetts, on the Cape, or anywhere for that matter.

In order to understand the true power of this endorsement, it is important that you know how an at-fault accident can affect your insurance.

When you are involved in a car accident, your to-do list quite literally doubles in size. Not only do you need to contact your insurance carrier to file a claim, you may also need to secure a rental car, drop your car off at the shop, and, in worse case scenarios, schedule an appointment with your doctor and/or visit the local hospital.

To top it off, if you are found to be at fault for the incident, there is a very real possibility that your insurance premium will increase at annual renewal time. Your insurance carrier will look at a number of factors before deciding whether to increase your rates, including your previous driving record, the circumstances that caused the accident, such as weather and road conditions, and the severity of the incident. Regardless of what they uncover, though, you are much more likely to see a rise in your premium after being involved in an at-fault car accident.

However, if your insurer reviews your auto insurance policy and sees that you have Accident Forgiveness, well folks, that is a true game-changer. With this additional endorsement in place, your premium will not be affected by an at-fault accident, so you can take “paying more for insurance” off your list of to-dos post-crash.

How does Accident Forgiveness work?

The team at Morse wants to make sure you understand exactly how this additional auto endorsement can work for you. So, before you choose to add it to your auto insurance policy, here are four more things we think you should consider:

1. You must stay with your current carrier to avoid a premium increase.
   Even though your original insurance carrier will not factor the accident into your premium, the accident is still reported. Therefore, the crash and any related claims will be listed on your driving record for the next six years for any new provider to see. So, if you were to try to switch to another carrier after the accident, their quoted premium will include the at-fault accident that was originally “forgiven” by your previous carrier.
2. To receive the full benefit of Accident Forgiveness, you must report the car accident to your insurance provider first.
   It is critical that you are first to report the accident to your insurance carrier. If you delay in informing your insurer and another driver’s insurance provider contacts your carrier before you do, then the coverage this endorsement provides will be considered null and void. With Accident Forgiveness, it pays to be upfront and forthright.
3. Accident Forgiveness is only available to drivers with clean driving records and for those who have at least six years of driving experience.
   In order to benefit from Accident Forgiveness, you must have (a) no reported accidents over the past three years, (b) minimal speeding tickets and/or moving violations, and (c) at least six years behind the wheel. If your spouse, teen, or any other dependent listed on your policy, does not have a clean driving record and/or sufficient driving history, they will not be covered by this additional endorsement.
4. This additional coverage is considered a one-hit wonder.
   Which means that if you’re in an at-fault accident and have elected to use Accident Forgiveness to ensure your premium does not go up, then you cannot use this coverage again until your driving record has been clean for another six years. So, if you or anyone else listed on your policy is involved in a second at-fault collision before that period of time has passed, you will not be able to elect to use this coverage to avoid a premium increase at renewal time.

Including Accident Forgiveness in your auto insurance coverage can certainly help you and your family worry a little bit less about the financial implications to your insurance after an at-fault crash. However, for Morse, of course, the key is helping you avoid accidents in the first place. We would like to stress that it is always extremely important to practice safe driving behaviors, including not driving drowsy, keeping both eyes on the road at all times, and avoiding distractions like texting, eating, and talking on the phone while driving.

While we strongly recommend the Accident Forgiveness endorsement to all of our clients, our best advice for protecting yourself from the stress, aggravation, and cost of a car crash is to always drive mindfully. In fact, at Morse, we are committed to doing our part to help reduce accidents caused by distracted drivers, especially newer ones. To get important driving safety tips for teens and adults, please read our Car Insurance for Teens page.

If you have any additional questions about Accident Forgiveness, want to find out if you are eligible for this special coverage, or are ready to add it to your auto insurance policy, please contact the Morse team today.