Betterment Insurance
Categories: Insurance, Regulations
A clause often found in auto insurance policies that relates to the quality of parts the company is willing to pay for as part of a claim. Basically, if you have an accident, the insurance company isn't going to pay for you to get better car parts than you had before the crash.
Let's take it step by step: You have an accident. You take your busted car to a body shop for repairs and give them your insurance info. Your ratty, old, came-with-the-vehicle-but-has-already-fallen-off-three-times hubcap was damaged in the crash. You tell the body shop to go ahead and replace the broken one with one of those shiny, spinning (expensive) rims you've seen in the Fast and Furious movies.
Eventually, the insurance company gets the bill. They are fine with all the other repairs, but they let you know that, because of the betterment clause, you're on your own for the new rims. The clause prevents you from sneakily upgrading your car after an accident by having it repaired with better parts than you had before.