Accas are a huge draw for sports betting fans. The potential of huge returns from relatively small stakes is always appealing, even though we all know how unlikely they are to win.
They sometimes get painfully close though, only to be let down by a single selection.
This is where acca insurance comes in.
Most of the big bookies offer some kind of acca insurance promotion these days. They return your stake as a free bet (occasionally as cash) if your acca loses by a single selection. Punters will actively seek them out because they help take the sting out of a loss that was so close to being a win.
Like any well known bookies offer though, not all acca insurance promotions are created equal. Some are much more generous than others, and I will recommend some of the best below, as well as explaining a bit more about how they work.
Current Acca Insurance Offers
Football accas with Betfred could be refunded in cash up to £10 if just one leg loses. To qualify, bets must have at least 5 legs, each with odds of 1/2 or greater. This applies to both pre-match and in-play accas, one per customer per day.
This accumulator insurance is available on a range of football markets such as the match result or both teams to score and could refund accas with 5+ legs with a free bet up to £10 if just one leg loses. This is available once per day, minimum odds of 1/10 per leg and 3/1 combined apply.
Place and accumulator with 5+ selections on selected sports and you could be refunded with a free bet up to £20 if only one leg of your bet loses. Each selection must have odds of at least 1/5 (1.2) to qualify. When available, select ‘Acca Rewards’ from your bet slip and chose ‘Acca Insure’.
How Does It Work?
Sites that run acca insurance promotions usually have them trigger automatically once the qualifying conditions are met. You may be asked to opt in at some sites though, so do double check.
The specific sports, minimum odds, minimum stakes etc. will vary from one site to another, but the insurance works in the same way.
A punter places an acca of the right size, with a qualifying stake, and waits for the results to come in.
If your acca wins, great, you’ve won your bet. If your acca loses, commiserations, you’ve lost your bet. Unless, however, it only lost by a single selection. If this is the case, your stake will be returned. I’ll get into the specifics of how shortly.
To be clear, the stake will only be returned if your acca lost by a single line, selection, or whatever else you want to call it.
If you have a 5-fold and 3 selections win but 2 lose, acca insurance doesn’t pay out. If that same acca had 4 winning selections and only one loser, it would pay out. You could have a 25-fold acca and only lose by 2 selections, but the insurance still wouldn’t be paid out.
For this reason, it’s best practice to create accas that are no bigger than they have to be to qualify for the promotion. You are just increasing your chances of losing if you do. That said, if you feel strongly about a specific set of results it is your call.
Assuming your acca qualifies for the promotion you will have your stake back shortly after the bet is settled.
Common Terms and Conditions
As I mentioned, each bookie will have their own terms and conditions for their acca insurance offer. You should check the individual details before you bet so you know what you are agreeing to before you part with any cash.
There are some commonly found terms that you will most likely come up against though:
- Acca size
- Markets
- Odds
- Stake size
All insurance promotions will stipulate that your acca needs to be at least x-fold. A 5-fold is common, but if you can find a 4-fold then you’re doing pretty well. The smaller the acca the less chance of it going drastically wrong.
Many acca promotions are also targeted at specific sports market. This means you may be required to bet on horse racing to qualify for the promotion. Or football. Sometimes there are different sports included. Occasionally the doors are wide open and you can include what you like. You will need an offer that matches sports you know something about and/or regularly bet on.
When it comes to minimum odds requirements, you could be looking at minimum odds per selection, or for the acca as a whole. Since these are accumulator bets the minimum odds tend to be very short – I’ve seen as low as 1.2 or 1/5. A 5-fold of selections priced at 1.2 is still overall odds of 2.4 or 7/5, an implied probability of 41.7%.
However, if the terms stipulate minimum overall odds instead or as well as individual minimum odds, these could be much higher.
Last, you need to think about the minimum stake required to trigger the offer, and the maximum amount the bookie will pay out. The minimum stake is usually something like £10, but whatever it is, there will also be an upper limit. This means regardless of the amount you wager, you will only be refunded up to the maximum value mentioned in the terms. So a £20 bet on a site with a £10 acca insurance max refund would only see £10 refunded.
It may be the case that the minimum qualifying stake is the same as the maximum refund, which basically means you have to stake £x or nothing. Or at least accept that you won’t get your full stake refunded if you do bet more.
Stake Returned as Cash or Free Bet?
There is more to say on this subject so let’s give it a section to itself.
Most of the time, acca insurance offers will return stakes as a free bet. When this is the case, you will likely also be limited as to what sports you use it on, the odds of the markets you choose, and even when you use it.
For instance, you might have to use it on football, or even on football within specific leagues. The odds of the markets you choose will probably have a minimum setting, perhaps evens. Plus, free bet tokens have a sell by date. If you don’t use them within a set time frame – usually seven days – they expire and you lose them for good.
For these reasons, having your stake returned as cash is preferable since it gives you total control over what to do with it.
However, it’s as rare as hen’s teeth to find an acca insurance promotion that works in this way. They do pop up occasionally though so keep your eyes peeled.