How does accident forgiveness work?

Date Modified : 2026-09-22

Your first at-fault accident can have a long-term impact on what you pay for auto insurance, which is why many insurers offer Accident Forgiveness as an optional coverage. How it works can vary depending on your insurer, so understanding the specifics can help you get the most out of this coverage. In this article, we'll go through how accident forgiveness generally works, including what it covers, how it's applied, who can qualify, how fault is determined, and what happens after you use the benefit it provides. 

Accident forgiveness is optional coverage you can add to your auto policy that keeps your premium from increasing as a result of your first at-fault or partially at-fault accident. Most major insurers in Canada offer some form of accident forgiveness, but what it costs and how it works depends on the insurer and your province or territory.

Our Accident Forgiveness coverage is specifically designed to protect you from the premium increase that would normally follow an at-fault or partially at-fault accident. Here's a closer look at what this protection for premium looks like:

• Premium cost. Your first at-fault or partially at-fault accident won't cause your premium to go up at renewal (but other factors your insurer uses to determine your premium cost can still affect your renewal price).
• Claims-free discount. If you've earned a claims-free discount on your car insurance with us and you have your first at-fault accident forgiven, you won't lose your Claims Free Reward.
• First at-fault accident only. Our Accident Forgiveness coverage only applies to forgive your first at-fault or partially at-fault accident, so any subsequent at-fault accidents you're involved in won't be forgiven. 

Accident forgiveness doesn't protect you from:

• Payment of deductible. You'll still need to pay your deductible on the claim itself.
• Impact on your driving record. If you receive a   conviction under your province or territory's motor vehicle legislation in relation to the accident, it will still show up on your driving record.
• Premium impact of second or subsequent at-fault accidents. Our Accident Forgiveness coverage forgives only your first at-fault or partially at-fault accident, so a second one will typically affect your premium the way it normally would.
• Premium impact of excluded types of accidents. Certain accidents, such as those involving impaired driving or drivers not listed on the policy, are typically excluded (the exact exclusions depend on your policy).
• Impact on your Autoplus report. Even if an accident has been forgiven under Accident Forgiveness coverage, in provinces or territories where Autoplus^TM services are available the claim for that accident will still appear in your Autoplus^TM report, which insurers use to verify your insurance history—so if you switch insurers, your new insurer can still factor in an accident that was forgiven when determining your premium.

Even though it's often called Accident Forgiveness coverage, accident forgiveness only affects your premium—it doesn't change any of the actual coverages on your policy. So, when you make a claim and you have Accident Forgiveness on your policy, the payout, deductible, and coverage rules applying to your claim remain unaffected. 

You can add our Accident Forgiveness coverage to your TD Insurance policy at any time.  There's an extra premium or cost for the coverage, and you'll need to meet the eligibility requirements for adding it. 

Here's how to add Accident Forgiveness coverage to an existing TD Insurance policy or include it in a TD Insurance quote:

Not sure if you have Accident Forgiveness on your TD Insurance policy? With the TD Insurance app, it's quick and easy to check which optional coverages you've added to your policy. Don't have our app on your phone yet? Download it now.

Eligibility rules for accident forgiveness vary from insurer to insurer, but they tend to share a common goal: The endorsement is designed for drivers who've already demonstrated low-risk behaviour over time. So, it's not a way to soften the impact of repeated claims or higher-risk driving.

If you're a TD Insurance customer, for example, you're eligible for our Accident Forgiveness coverage if you meet each of the following requirements:

• Active auto policy with us. You must have a vehicle insurance policy with us and satisfy its conditions.
• Principal driver's record. The principal operator of the vehicle must be licensed and accident-free for the preceding 6 years for the type of vehicle for which the coverage is requested.
• Other listed drivers' records. All other listed drivers must be free of at-fault accidents for the preceding 6 years or for time licensed for the type of vehicle for which the coverage is requested.

Changing your vehicle won't have an impact on your eligibility.

Accident forgiveness takes effect on the date the endorsement is added to your policy. This will usually be the policy effective date if you add the endorsement at the time you purchase your policy, or your policy renewal date if you add it at renewal.

How long an accident forgiveness endorsement lasts depends on your insurer's rules, but generally, it will remain in place for as long as you keep it on your policy and you continue to meet your insurer's eligibility conditions. It typically ends when you cancel the endorsement or when you use it on a qualifying at-fault accident. 

An accident will generally be eligible for accident forgiveness if it's your first at-fault or partially at-fault accident—as long as the accident doesn't fall within one of the endorsement's exclusions. 

Common exclusions include accidents involving: 

• Criminal Code offences such as impaired driving or dangerous driving
• Major provincial traffic offences, like stunt driving or driving with a suspended licence
• Violations of policy conditions

Specific exclusions vary by insurer, so you should always check the wording of the endorsement to confirm which accidents qualify for forgiveness, and which do not. 

Your insurer decides fault by applying the fault determination rules set by your province or territory to the facts of an accident. Based on this determination of fault, a driver can be found not at fault, fully at fault or, if two or more drivers contributed to the accident, partially at fault. Unlike legal fault, the finding of fault for insurance purposes is based on the movements of the vehicles involved in the collision rather than on whether anyone was ticketed or charged.

Your insurer's finding of fault matters for accident forgiveness because forgiveness only applies to at-fault or partially at-fault accidents. If you're found not at-fault, the accident generally won't impact your premium costs, so there's no premium increase for accident forgiveness to protect against.

When accident forgiveness is applied to your first at-fault or partially at-fault accident claim, that accident won't affect the cost of your premium at renewal. 

After you've used your accident forgiveness coverage once on a claim, though, any further protection from a premium increase due to an accident where you're at fault or partially at fault will usually be gone, so if you have a second at-fault or partially at-fault accident, it will have a normal impact on your premium. 

Keep in mind, too, that if you change insurers after an accident is forgiven by your current insurer, the new insurer could still rate that accident as part of your driving history when calculating your premium. 

A couple of things are worth thinking about when you're deciding whether accident forgiveness makes sense for you. One is eligibility: Since insurers' eligibility requirements can vary, a practical starting point is to confirm that you qualify for the coverage before you weigh the question further.

Another thing to consider is your claims record. Drivers who've built-up a solid claims-free history (and the discounts that might come with it) tend to get the most out of accident forgiveness, since the whole purpose of the coverage is to keep one at-fault accident from undoing your years of maintaining a clean driving history.

Did you know: If you're a TD Insurance policyholder and you're involved in an accident, it's easy and convenient to start your claim directly on the TD Insurance App.