When I dinged my Audi last year (nothing major, just a fender bender), the forgiveness saved me from a hefty immediate spike. Renewal did creep up slightly, but comparing notes with friends who did...
Yeah, I get the logic, but does accident forgiveness even apply to older or classic cars? My '72 Mustang's insured differently—wondering if regular policies with forgiveness cover vintage rides, or if it's just newer stuff... Anyone know?
Anyone know?
Regular accident forgiveness usually applies to standard daily drivers, not classics. My '68 Camaro's on a specialized classic policy—totally different animal. Had a minor scrape once, and forgiveness wasn't even an option...had to negotiate agreed-value coverage instead.
Interesting point about classics being a different beast altogether. But honestly, even for daily drivers, accident forgiveness isn't always the golden ticket people think it is. Had a client once who thought he was covered after a fender-bender—turns out, the forgiveness only applied if he'd been accident-free for five years prior. He was at four years and ten months...talk about bad timing.
Plus, in Ohio specifically, I've seen some insurers bump up your base premium to offset the "freebie" they're supposedly giving you. It's subtle, but it's there. Sometimes you're better off just shopping around every couple of years and keeping your record clean rather than paying extra for something you might never use.
Curious though—did your classic policy provider at least handle the agreed-value negotiation smoothly? I've heard mixed stories on that front...
"Plus, in Ohio specifically, I've seen some insurers bump up your base premium to offset the 'freebie' they're supposedly giving you."
Yep, noticed this too. When I last renewed my policy, accident forgiveness was pitched like some amazing perk—but after crunching the numbers, it felt more like paying upfront for something I might never even use. Ended up skipping it. Can't speak on classics, but I'd definitely double-check the fine print before assuming it's a good deal...
I had a similar experience a couple years back when I was renewing my policy here in Ohio. My agent made accident forgiveness sound like the best thing since sliced bread, but something felt off. I ended up doing some digging and realized that my premium would jump noticeably higher if I opted in. It reminded me of that time I rented a car for a cross-country road trip—at the counter, they tried selling me every insurance add-on imaginable. I almost bit, but thankfully I hesitated and asked a few extra questions. Turns out my credit card already covered most of what they were offering.
Sometimes these "extras" seem great at first glance, but when you really look into them, they're not always worth the cost. Accident forgiveness might make sense if you're particularly accident-prone or have a newer driver in the household, but for me, it just didn't add up. Always worth taking the extra few minutes to crunch numbers and read the fine print before jumping in...
