No matter how long you have been riding or how careful you have been, you could find yourself in the middle of an insurance incident.
This can be incredibly frustrating, especially for those who have had a clean riding record for years.
However, before you accept a significant hike in your insurance rates, there is a solution that can prevent this from happening: Accident Forgiveness – a benefit offered in some insurance policies.
Accident Forgiveness is a feature offered in some motorcycle insurance policies. With this benefit, your insurance policy is not charged for your first accident.
You will typically need a period of incident-free riding to qualify, usually five years.
Simply meeting the required accident-free timeframe should qualify you for Accident Forgiveness. And if you do then have an accident, you won't be charged for it for it the first time.
Even if you rate your riding skills highly, you should not rule out choosing a policy with Accident Forgiveness. You may be involved in an incident that is only partly your fault, yet you still may have to bear the brunt of what's happened from a financial perspective.
Plus, even the best motorcycle riders have had bad moments on the road.
Because of this, it certainly makes sense to protect yourself with Accident Forgiveness, no matter how highly you rate your skills on the road.
If you have a policy with Accident Forgiveness, your first at-fault motorcycle accident may not result in a surcharge when the time comes to renew.
However, this benefit is not applicable until you've had an 'accident-free' period of time. This means all subsequent accidents could impact your insurance premium, so keep this in mind.
You mustn't view Accident Forgiveness as a free pass. It gives you a bit of breathing space if you do find yourself caught up in an incident. However, it certainly does not excuse poor riding or give you a way out of all further mishaps in the future.
There are some exceptions to accident forgiveness. For example, if you have a history of insurance incidents and they were your fault, it may be that you only qualify once you've built up to a period of accident-free riding.
If you want to learn more about Harley-Davidson Insurance's motorcycle Accident Forgiveness, as well as the insurance rates we offer, please do not hesitate to contact one of our licensed agents.
We're happy to answer any questions you have!