An excess is the amount of money you pay towards a claim on your insurance. It’s split into compulsory and voluntary excess – together these make up your total excess amount.
There are two parts of your excess you’ll need to consider:
Compulsory excess is decided by the insurer
Voluntary excess is chosen by you based on what you could afford to pay if you claimed
The total excess you pay is the compulsory excess plus the voluntary excess.
For example, if your compulsory excess is £150 and you choose a voluntary excess of £100, your total excess is £250. You’ll need to pay a total of £250 towards the cost of a claim.
You only pay the excess for your losses and when you’re at fault. For example, if you’re responsible for an accident and damage your car.
You may also purchase Car Excess Insurance here.
How it works?
Once you purchase Car Excess insurance your original car insurance policy excess is protected. If you make a claim under your car insurance policy, we will pay your excess for you to the repairer or garage once you notify us of the claim, if you pay your excess yourself, keep your receipts and we will reimburse you the amount of your excess.
Can I protect the excess under an existing car insurance policy?- Yes, you can take out Car Excess insurance at any time. We recommend that you do so when you purchase or renew your car insurance policy.
What happens if the repair cost is less than the excess under my car insurance policy? If the value of your claim is lower than the amount of the excess under your car insurance, it will not be covered under either your car insurance policy or your Car Excess insurance.
Does the Car Excess insurance cover accidents which are my fault? Yes, both at-fault and non-fault accidents are covered.
How much it cost?
£150- £23
£250- £35
£500- £45
£750- £50
£1000- £65
or alternatively (also may include young drivers, motorcycles and young drivers)
£350- £34
£750- £45
£1000- £54
What is car insurance excess?
What is GAP insurance?
GAP stands for Guaranteed Asset Protection.
In layman’s terms, it covers the difference between what your car insurer values your vehicle at the time it was written off and the original price you paid for it.
Generally speaking, over the course of a car’s lifetime, it will lose its value - depreciate - quickly.
On average, over a three year period, this fall in value can be up to 60%!Because of this depreciation, if your car is written off following accidental damage or theft, motor insurers will often only pay out the value of the car at the time it was written off. Not the price you originally paid.
This Insurance covers that difference!
This means that if your car were to be written off and it was valued at £7,000, but the amount you paid for the car was £30,000, our GAP insurance would cover the difference of £23,000.
The main thing to consider when considering taking out a GAP policy is how quickly you believe your car will depreciate (fall in value). Even cars only a few years old can fall in value much faster than people realise.
So if you have bought an older car from a dealership, whilst it is unlikely the value of the car is going to dramatically fall in price, you could still end up out of pocket if your car is written off.
Alternatively, many brand new cars lose their value as soon as you drive off from the car dealership.
So, if you think that your vehicle is likely to depreciate, GAP insurance could protect you financially if your car were to be written off.However, if your car is going to maintain its’ value, it is not necessarily for you.
What does a comprehensive car insurance cover?
In a nutshell, comprehensive car insurance cover – sometimes known as fully comprehensive cover, pays out if you damage your car, someone else's car or injure someone in an accident, regardless of who is at fault.
Comprehensive car insurance also covers you against fire and theft.
What does legal cover mean on car insurance?
Motor legal protection – sometimes known as car insurance legal cover – can cover legal expenses, up to an agreed limit, which result from a car accident that wasn't your fault.
It's usually offered as an optional add-on to car insurance policies, although some include it as standard