A Guide To Home Excess Insurance

However, in some cases, claiming on the insurance may be a worry due to the amount of excess that you have to pay. This is where home excess insurance may come in very handy.

What Is Excess Insurance?

Typically, when you make a successful claim under your home insurance policy, you will be charged an excess amount, which is the first part of the claim that you agree to pay.

This amount would have been agreed at the time you took out your home insurance cover and may fall anywhere between £50 - £200. It may be more, however, if at the time you elected to pay an additional voluntary excess – in order to pay less in insurance premiums (as you are sharing some of the financial risks with the insurer).

Either way, if you do make a claim, you are liable for the excess amount.

So, if you need to make a claim for water damage, as an example, and to repair the damage costs £500 and your policy excess is £200, even if your home insurance claim is successful, you will only get £300 – leaving £200 out of pocket.

Excess insurance for your home can be taken out to cover the amount of excess on any home insurance claim that you may make in future.

Bring Down The Cost Of Home Insurance With A Higher Excess

While home excess insurance gives you have peace of mind financially, if you have to make a claim on your home insurance, as mentioned above, it may also help to reduce the cost of premiums for home insurance.

Typically the more excess you are willing to pay; the cheaper the insurance premiums may be for your home insurance. The majority, if not all, insurance providers ask for an excess, however, you may offer to pay a higher excess.

Also, consider the fact that if you do have to make a claim on your home insurance the excess has to come out of your pocket if you haven’t taken out excess insurance. Therefore, only offer to pay an amount of excess insurance that you are realistically able to afford to pay. It may be a good idea to put this money aside, just in case you need to fall back onto it if a claim has to be made.

While home excess insurance isn't mandatory, you may benefit financially, in the event of a claim having to be made on your home insurance.

Further reading: Do you need home excess insurance?