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 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.

There are over 5% of drivers on the streets in the UK who are uninsured. The insurance companies provide protection but due to the fact they are at risk for paying for other drivers mishaps the insurance premiums continue to rise.

The minimum excess that your insurance provider will accept for your policy is the compulsory excess. This amount will change from one driver to the next. The insurer will use your vehicle type, age, experience driving, as well as your driving record to determine your compulsory excess payment. The amount will vary from $50 to $500 or $1000 depending on your criteria and the insurers guidelines.

A Voluntary excess is where you pay a larger excess amount even if you qualify for a much smaller one. Any agent should be able to explain the differences these excess amounts will do to your policy price and premium amount. The excess amount should be kept low enough to be affordable but not so low that it raises your premium very much.

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.

by Susan Reynolds
About the Author:
Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Insurance Portal that provides consumers with the best Car Insurance Options.

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