The offer of a vanishing deductible certainly seems beguiling. Car insurance companies say they’ll reward customers by trimming their collision deductible after a few years of crash-free driving.
Nationwide, Hartford and Allstate offer these “vanishing deductible” discounts, frequently pitched through TV commercials. Allstate calls it a “Deductible Rewards” plan while The Hartford, also evoking the near-magical in its pitch, goes with “Disappearing Deductible.”
Combined with car insurance discounts, these deductible rewards programs have the potential to save you lots of money.
Here’s how each work, according to the insurers:
- The Hartford will slice $150 off the collision deductible after five years without crashes or violations. Three of those years must be as a policyholder with The Hartford. Once you’ve qualified, $50 will be trimmed from your deductible every year you go without a black mark on your record. “Over time, your deductible may ‘disappear’ altogether,” the company says, but adds that “in some states, we are prohibited from reducing your deductible below $100.”
- Nationwide strips $100 off the top and $100 each year you go without an accident or moving violation. The insurer puts a $500 ceiling on how much can ultimately be stripped from the deductible.
- Allstate’s plan gives customers an immediate $100 off their deductible and another $100 off each year they’re accident-free, up to $500, the same as Nationwide.
The car insurance companies didn’t disclose how many of their policyholders opt for these plans but say they’ve become popular over the past few years.
Vanishing deductibles: What’s the catch?
These plans will cost you more, that’s the most obvious catch. The companies tend to offer disappearing deductibles through their more expensive policies. The Hartford wraps the deductible discount into its “Advantage Plus” package, adding about 5% or 6% to your bill. “Advantage Plus” also includes “accident forgiveness,” which means there’s no premium increase after a first accident.
Nationwide says you can buy “Vanishing Deductible” for $60 a year ($30 for each six-month term) for your first vehicle and $10 for each car you add. The company says it decided on the flat fee to make coverage “easier for consumers to understand.” The program can be bought on its own, Nationwide adds, meaning you don’t have to pay for a bigger car insurance package to get it.
But there are consequences if you’re in a crash or get a moving violation while under the plans.
The Hartford notes that you have to start anew — your original deductible is reinstated and you have to establish a clean record again to qualify for reductions. And it doesn’t make any difference who caused the accident; policyholders go back even if it’s not their fault.
Nationwide says customers revert to the original $100 off the deductible if they have an accident or violation.
Consumer Reports evaluated the “Vanishing Deductible” and decided that it may be a bad idea for many drivers, even those who are careful and avoid road mishaps.
“Eventually the vanishing deductible will cost you more than you’ll save,” Consumer Reports says. “After nine years, for example, you will have spent $540 for a $500 reduction. You might save more by raising your deductible instead. Hiking it from $200 to $1,000, for example, can cut your collision premium by 40 percent.”
Hank Coleman, the owner of the Money Q&A blog, advised policyholders to study these plans carefully and to fully understand that they’ll cost extra. “Do not make the mistake of assuming [that these features] are included in your insurance policy automatically,” he says.
Nationwide vanishing deductible
Once you’ve driven five accident-free years with Nationwide, your deductible is reduced by $500, the maximum — but you’ve paid at least $300 to do that. If you drive 10 problem-free years on the program, you’ll have paid $600. That’s more than the cut in your deductible.
Should those numbers encourage you to sign up?
Possibly. But you could avoid the middleman by opening a savings account and banking a monthly amount toward your deductible. But what if you don’t trust your ability to save money and still like the disappearing deductible idea? Then you might enroll in one of these plans but consider raising your deductible, which may reduce your collision premiums.
But keep in mind that you’d still need to have money to cover the difference between your part of the deductible and what hasn’t “disappeared.”
Florida Car Insurance Rates by ZIP Code
Enter ZIP for average rate. Then enter Age, Gender and Coverage Level for customized rate.
Highest Rate
$129/mo.
Lowest Rate
$47/mo.
| MOST EXPENSIVE PER MONTH |
|---|
| 33012 - Hialeah: $128 |
| 33135 - Miami: $128 |
| 33013 - Hialeah: $128 |
| 33125 - Miami: $127 |
| LEAST EXPENSIVE PER MONTH |
|---|
| 32425 - Bonifay: $53 |
| 32440 - Graceville: $53 |
| 32431 - Cottondale: $53 |
| 32428 - Chipley: $53 |
CarInsurance.com commissioned Quadrant Information Services to provide a report of average auto insurance rates for a 2017 Honda Accord for nearly every ZIP code in the United States. We calculated rates using data for up to six large carriers. Averages for the default result are based monthly insurance for a male driver, age 30, for state minimum required liability coverage. Averages for customized rates are based on drivers' ages and gender for the following coverage levels: state minimum liability, liability of 50/100/50 and 100/300/100 with $500 deductible on comprehensive and collision. These hypothetical drivers have clean records and good credit. Average rates are for comparative purposes. Your own rate will depend on your personal factors and vehicle.
Look beyond the TV ads when buying auto insurance
Insurance experts, including the Insurance Information Institute (III), offer this simple advice: Don’t make a decision based on an insurer’s commercials, no matter how appealing they seem. Instead, understand your personal needs and shop around for car insurance, all the while closely evaluating an insurance company’s product.
“Education, knowing what you have and what you need, is always a great idea when it comes to your vehicle coverage,” says III spokesperson Michael Barry.”The consumer needs to be prepared.”
— Mark Chalon Smith contributed to this story.
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