Most people who like to have a bet on multi-selection accumulators, especially football, will at some point have been let-down by just one selection.

Picture the scene. You’re sitting there on a Saturday afternoon, checking the latest scores, and you suddenly realise that your accumulator is coming in. There are literally just a few minutes remaining in all the games and every one of your selections is winning. Your bank balance or wallet will be receiving an increase in mere minutes when the final whistles blow.

Then, disaster strikes. As the results start to trickle through and your brain starts to spend your winnings, you see that one of your selections has conceded a late goal and your bet has lost.

One team, one selection, one goal, and your acca has gone from being a winner to a loser. You have lost your stake money and, in your mind, have lost the total amount you would have won as well.

But, some bookmakers have tried to offer their customers a way of softening this blow and now give their customers acca insurance on certain multi-selection bets.

Basically, acca insurance means that your multi-selection bet is insured against one selection letting you down.

If that’s the case, the bookmaker will refund your stake money, or at least a part of it. This means that, although your accumulator bet may not have won, you will not lose anything if just one selection loses.

Obviously, as with most things, there are terms & conditions which must be met. For example, there will be a minimum number of selections in your bet and they will all have to be above certain odds for the acca insurance to be activated.

Your refunded stake money will usually be in the form of free bets and will usually have an expiry date.

Example

Using Ladbrokes as an example, let’s take a closer look at acca insurance.

For starters, all accumulator bets must have five or more selections in the match result market to qualify for acca insurance. Bets must be placed pre-match, and all selections must be at minimum odds of 1/10 (1.10) and the accumulator odds must total at least 3/1 (4.00).

Also, this offer is only valid on the first settled accumulator bet of the day and they will only refund stake money up to £/€25, which will be paid as a free bet if one selection loses.

Cashed-out or edited bets are not included and there are other terms & conditions, so always read the small-print to know where you stand with this offer.

Now we’ve got the main conditions out of the way, let’s look at how this offer actually works.

Let’s say you placed a five-team accumulator, at a stake of £/€10 on:

1. Tottenham to beat Huddersfield
2. Liverpool to beat Newcastle
3. Southampton to beat Stoke City
4. Swansea to beat West Ham United
5. Watford to beat West Bromwich Albion

At full time, you look up the results and see:

1. Tottenham 2-0 Huddersfield
2. Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle
3. Southampton 0-0 Stoke City
4. Swansea 4-1 West Ham United
5. Watford 1-0 West Brom

So, four teams have won but Southampton have only managed a goalless draw and gives you one losing losing selection.

As you have met the terms & conditions for acca insurance, you will be credited with a £/€10 free bet within twenty-four hours of the qualifying bet being settled. You must then use this free bet within four days of it being credited to your account.

If, for example, the Swansea vs West Ham match had been postponed after the bet had been placed, your bet would have lost and would not qualify for acca insurance. This is due to the fact that, once voided selections are removed from the slip, there are less than five selections.

As already mentioned above, Ladbrokes are one of the big betting companies who offer their customers acca insurance. However, they are not the only ones.

Several companies now offer this promotion, with some of the most popular listed below. Remember, each of these have different conditions which need to be met and it’s always advisable to read through the small print before placing a bet.

One other thing, with most of these sites offering refunded stakes as free bets, make sure you are betting with a company you would be willing to bet with again.

• William Hill
• Bet Victor
• Betfred
• 888 Sport
• Bwin Sports
• Dafabet
• Betfair

The final one betting site on our list, Betfair, is probably the one which offers the most value.

Their ‘Acca Edge’ promotion offers the option for insurance against one losing selection on win bets of three or more selections across several different sports. ‘Edged’ bets will have slightly lower odds than normal bets, but stakes are refunded as cash and not free bets if you only have one loser on your acca.

There are several advantages to using a betting site which provides acca insurance, especially for those who regularly place accumulator bets and narrowly lose out.

Not only does having acca insurance mean you have less chance of losing your stake money, it also gives you the chance to win again with the same money. It helps to soften the blow for those who constantly suffer bad luck, with many people regularly having a drawn match cost them a winfall.

However, there are things which could be looked at as disadvantages.

There may be customers who regularly place accumulators consisting of only four selections. These people may be convinced to add a selection or two to their betting slip in order to qualify for acca insurance. This increases the possibility of a losing bet, as more selections equal more of a risk.

Also, with refunded stakes mostly being deposited as free bets, it increases the number of bets a customer will place and could lead to gambling problems further down the line. Customers who place one accumulator every Saturday may be tempted to bet more when they receive their free bet.

These are small disadvantages though and we feel this is a fantastic offer which only helps to improve customer experience, as well as offering more chances to win.