The “excess’ that is placed on the insurance of your car is the amount that you would pay if you eventually make a claim. When do you pay excess on car insurance is a question most people ask today.
However, we have two different types of excesses; the voluntary and the compulsory excesses. Often times, you would listen to your insurance providers talking about the two different types of excesses and the compulsory excesses is the one that the insurance company sets.
Based on various bits of information about you, you would know what exactly you are paying as compulsory excess and if you are above twenty five years of age, drives a powerful, faster and expensive car and if you also stay in areas where people often make more claims then you are likely to have a higher compulsory excess. Just like in premiums, all insurers do not charge same amount on excess and at the same time, compulsory excess cannot be changed.
When Do You Pay Excess On Car Insurance
In the case of voluntary excess, you can make your own choice on what you would like to pay as excess on your car and your insurer doesn’t have to set an amount for you. The higher your excess is set, the more cheaper your car insurance premium would get. However, paying for your voluntary excess needs to be paid right on your compulsory excess and what this means is the two will end up being added together.
Even though having a high voluntary excess would make your premium cheaper, selecting an amount that you would be able to pay when it is time to make a claim is still very important. Furthermore, there is also something known as total excess and i am sure you are guessing what total excess means too. Paying voluntary and compulsory excess is necessary when you make a claim so when the numbers are added together, the amount you get is your total excess.
Take for instance you pay one hundred fifty dollars as compulsory excess and three hundred dollars as voluntary excess, four hundred and fifty dollars is your total excess if you decide to make an insurance claim. When someone makes a claim on your insurance is the only time you have to pay for car insurance excess. You don’t have to pay for excess if you are making a claim on someone else insurance.
What this theoretically means is that you would pay for excess for any damages that your car suffers in an accident and this also applies when you are the driver at fault. You can make a claim on the other driver’s insurance if you are not at fault and even though all these might sound simple and easy, it would get a bit complicating when the process starts so you have to be patient and careful as well.
Paying For Third Party Excess
When you make a claim on your insurance is the only time that you are going to pay for excess and what this means is if you are involved in a car accident where you are at fault but no damages was done to your car then you are not required to pay for excess based on the claims of the other driver. Even if you are at fault and the cause of the accident, it is still up to your insurer to pay all the charges.
However, we mentioned that things might get complicating at some point and that point is where it isn’t clear which of the drivers is at fault for the accident. However, you can not make a claim on their insurance if no one can figure out which driver is at fault and this is because while investigations are still ongoing, the other driver’s insurance company would not have to pay you for any claims that you have made. It becomes a bit tricky if repairs needs to be carried out on your vehicle because this is where your insurance needs to be paid out real quick.
If this happens then you would be left with no choice but to make a claim on your own insurance and this would only mean you paying for the repairs carried out on your car. If you are able to claim the insurance and pay for excess, you are still likely to get back your money and this is only possible when investigations are done and it was found out that you weren’t the one at fault but the other driver.
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