Acceptance Insurance Company, also called First Acceptance Inc., was founded in 1969. Acceptance focuses on non-standard auto insurance for those individuals who have a high-risk insurance rating. Headquartered in Nashville, TN, Acceptance markets its services through the Acceptance Insurance, Yale Insurance, and Insurance Plus brands. The company operates over 350 retail locations in 17 states. The 17 states are:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
In addition to auto insurance, Acceptance Insurance offers commercial, homeowners, renters, life, motorcycle, pet and travel insurance.
Coverage Options
Acceptance car insurance policy coverages include:
- Liability – If you cause an accident, liability coverages include bodily injury coverage which will assist with the other parties’ medical expenses and property damage. Property damage covers damages caused to another vehicle or any type of property such as a fence or wall.
- Collision and Comprehensive – Collision coverage covers your vehicle if it is involved in an accident regardless of fault. Comprehensive coverage includes damages caused by vandalism, theft, or a storm.
- Uninsured Motorist – This line of coverage will help if you were injured in an accident and the at-fault driver can’t be identified, doesn’t have valid insurance, or doesn’t carry enough liability coverage.
- Rental Car Reimbursement – While your car is being repaired after a covered loss, you receive a rental with no daily expense limit. Your policy also provides coverage while driving your rental replacement vehicle.
A.M. Best Review
As of December 2018, A.M. Best has revised the outlooks of Acceptance Insurance to stable from negative and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of C++ (Marginal).
Customer Reviews
Pros
- Acceptance offers a lot of add-on coverages including Ticketproof which would reimburse you for minor traffic fines, RX Discount for prescription drugs, and accidental death resulting in an accident. Each add-on comes with a price but they are rare especially for a non-standard carrier.
- Extremely competitive pricing for high-risk drivers.
- Good easy to use and transparent priced website. Also, their FAQ section is extremely helpful.
- Better than average customer rankings for a non-standard insurance carrier.
- A good multi-line policy discount.
Cons
- Their A.M. Best Rating of “C++” is extremely alarming. For example, if a major hurricane hits Texas or Florida causing thousands of flood claims, they may not be able to handle the severity of paying millions at once. This could in turn cause delays in your claim in Indiana. And in the worst case, you pay in full for a 6-month policy for a discount and they decide to go bankrupt. This is unlikely but a “C++” ranking is well below average. The “C++” is an upgrade so it seems they are on an upward trend.
- Only available in 17 states. However, the non-standard insurance market is extremely segmented. Most non-standard carriers pick and choose where they do business because they are accepting high-risk drivers and attempt to minimize their high-risk as much as they can. Also, some states do not allow some of the high administrative fees non-standard insurance carriers typically apply associated with an SR-22 Form.
- Most of the complaints found are regarding inconsistent billing amounts and miscellaneous fees. Unfortunately, these types of complaints are common in the non-standard insurance industry.
- Not competitively priced if you aren’t a high-risk driver.
Overall
Across all review websites, the average score for Acceptance Insurance is 3.4 out of 5 stars. Non-standard carriers typically score less than a 3.0 score. The non-standard insurance industry is by far the most problematic and difficult within the auto insurance industry. Most only offer state minimum liability limits and first-party coverages are extremely expensive. However, if you know you’re a high-risk driver you already know you are going to pay a lot for not so much. It is also important to understand you are not insuring yourself with a top-tier insurance carrier. And in fact, most non-standard companies only do non-standard. Acceptance does offer more lines of coverage and add-ons than most non-standard carriers.
Despite all the negative remarks, they have an above-average customer review rating. Their ability to utilize online services cuts down on their operating expenses to give competitive prices. However, they are only a good option for high-risk drivers. If you have a clean driving record, there is no reason at all to bother obtaining a quote from Acceptance. If you are a high-risk driver, not looking for first-party coverage (collision and comprehensive), and live in one of the 17 states Acceptance covers, we suggest obtaining a quote. If those three intangibles do not apply for you, do not waste your time looking into Acceptance for your auto insurance needs.