What Is Car Insurance Excess
Car insurance excess is the sum of money you will have to come up with each time your car is being repaired due to a filed insurance claim. It is the additional amount that your insurer will not pay for the repairs to be completed. Your insurance company will determine what your excess payment will be when you start your policy. The excess payments in most cases will be made directly to the garage or mechanic that is repairing the vehicle, the insurance will send the remaining amount due directly to them or send a check to you that you will need to bring to the garage. 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. Too many drivers are on the road that have no insurance at all or coverage amounts that are insufficient to cover all your repairs or medical costs. It is illegal to drive while uninsured but this does not stop people from doing it. Your excess amount may not be able to be recovered if you are involved in an accident with a motorist who has insufficient insurance coverage. You can get protection from your insurer against underinsured or uninsured drivers and they will cover the costs that occur from the accident minus the excess payment originally agreed upon in your policy. 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. If you have filed a claim for repairs to be completed on your vehicle and placed the car in the garage the insurance company will in most cases pay the garage directly. They may send you a check for the repairs that needs to be turned over to the garage. The vehicle will not be released until full payment is made so you will need to pay the excess amount to the garage directly unless otherwise directed by your insurance company in order to have the vehicle released back to you. If your excess is too high this may be difficult to come up with and the garage will keep your car until payment is received and the insurance company will not pay for a rental while you try to come up with this money if the repairs are complete. Susan Reynolds is the content coordinator for a leading South African Insurance Provider who specialises in Car Insurance Policies. |