The company that offers accident forgiveness coverage like many other companies is GEICO, which is one of the best insurance companies with the cheapest rates and coverages designed for all kinds of drivers.
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Accident Forgiveness and Its Impacts on Your Insurance Premium
About GEICO
The Government Employees Insurance Company, known as GEICO, is an American auto insurance company located in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
GEICO was founded 86 years ago in 1936, and it is the second-largest auto insurer company in the United States. GEICO is ranked second in the United States for customer and claims satisfaction.
What is Accident Forgiveness?
Accident forgiveness is an auto insurance benefit with which you can prevent insurance rates from increasing after your first at-fault accident.
There is stress on the word “first” because you can only use accident forgiveness once. You can add it to your policy, or even sometimes, it is awarded to people with a good driving record.
GEICO offers accident forgiveness as well, and you can either earn it or purchase it, but unfortunately, it isn’t available in all states. To be more specific, accident forgiveness is not available in California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
Also, GEICO accident forgiveness is for each policy you have with them. If you have multiple drivers on your policy, any of them can use this benefit; once it is used, no other driver in that same policy can use it anymore.
How much does insurance go up after an accident?
Your car insurance rates could go up to 49% (nearly 50%) or around $348 a year on average if you were involved in an at-fault accident. Again, it depends on different factors; for example, if you live in Delaware, your rates will rise up to 31%, but if you live in Illinois, your rates can rise up to 55%.
The same goes for your insurance company. Another example would be that if your insurer is Progressive, for instance, your rates may rise up to 84%, but if your insurance provider is State Farm, your rates may only rise up to 56%. So, don’t just take a look at the average number, do more research and go forward with knowledge.
Progressive Exotic Car Insurance
How to get accident forgiveness on your GEICO car insurance policy?
You can earn it for free! GEICO congratulates you by giving you accident forgiveness for reaching a milestone anniversary and having maintained a clean driving record. When you receive it, GEICO will let you know.
You can also buy it as a premium option in most. Adding accident forgiveness is cheaper than you think, and it is worth it because maybe it will save you from paying a sky-high premium for years.
Accident forgiveness add-on needs a certain driving record and driving experience that you must have before you would be allowed to purchase it. Once it’s used, it will be expired, and you cannot buy it next renewal.
What are the benefits of having accident forgiveness?
- Keep any good driver discounts.
- No increase in your insurance rate.
- You’d have peace of mind while driving.
- Score additional savings because your premium won’t increase.
How filing a claim would affect your insurance rates?
Before we start, I want to say that just because you had an at-fault accident and it looks terrible, it doesn’t mean you’ll go broke paying for insurance premiums, and even in some cases, filing a claim after an accident won’t affect your premiums.
GEICO considers many factors when evaluating your insurance rates after you had an at-fault accident. The factors GEICO looks at are:
- Your driving records.
- If you have Accident Forgiveness.
- The number of claims you’ve made so far.
- The amount GEICO pays out for your claims.
If your insurance rate increases after an accident, GEICO will send you your new policy information and premium amounts 30 days earlier than your policy renewal date.
