Automotive News

The car insurance excess is the agreed upon amount your insurance company requires you to pay for any repairs that are being made to your vehicle due to a claim being filed.

Your insurance company decides what your excess payment will be at the beginning of your policy. The excess payments will usually be paid directly to the garage or mechanic that is repairing your vehicle and the insurance company will be responsible for the remaining amount.

When you file a claim where another motorist is responsible for the repairs done to your vehicle they may reimburse you the excess you had to pay or pay it their selves and deduct it from your settlement amount.

Millions of drivers are on the roadways with no insurance at all or they have coverage that is insufficient for covering all your repairs or medical expenses. Although it is illegal to operate a vehicle without insurance there are many people who still do it. The excess amount you have to pay may not be able to be reimbursed if you are involved in an accident with a driver with inadequate insurance coverage. Protection is offered from your insurer against underinsured or uninsured motorists any medical expenses or repairs to your vehicle not covered by the other driver will be covered by your insurer with the exception of the excess amount you owe.

More than 5% of drivers on the roads of UK are uninsured. The insurance companies offer protection but because they are at risk of having to cover these uninsured drivers for their faults it can raise the cost of insurance premiums.

The compulsory excess is the minimum amount that your insurer will allow you to have on your policy. The amount will vary greatly depending on your driving record, the type of car you drive, age and even the amount of experience you have behind the wheel. If you have a clean driving record and many years experience behind the wheel you could pay as little as $50 in excess but if you are a new driver you could pay as much as $500 or $1000 in excess.

Voluntary excess is when you qualify for a lower amount but choose to increase it to lower your monthly premium. Your agent will be able to discuss with you the options for increasing your excess and who how it will affect your overall premium cost. You should keep the excess amount low enough that you can afford it easily but not so low that it raises your premium.

You need to realize that if you have your car in the garage getting repaired due to an insurance claim the garage will not be able to release the vehicle to you until they receive full payment for repairs. The insurance company will pay the sum they are supposed to but the final payment will normally be the excess amount of the policy. This is why it is extremely important to be able to afford the excess amount you agreed on so that you will be able to easily come up with it when needed.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Insurance Provider who specialises in Car Insurance.