Do You Really Need Excess Insurance?

So, the answer is “yes” to car insurance. But do you have the same need for car excess insurance? Although the answer is “no”, you might end up kicking yourself for failing to have taken the precaution of arranging it.

The Principle Of An Excess

In addition to the legally required third party cover, the insurance for your own car or one that you have hired also typically extends to accidental damage or its loss through fire or theft.

In both instances, that insurance typically carries an excess – the first part of any claim for which you remain personally liable.

In the case of private motor insurance, the classic reason given for the inclusion of excess is that it discourages the insured from making small claims. In the case of insurance for hire cars – where the excess may be as high as £1,500 or more – the reason may be more closely associated with the opportunity it gives for vehicle rental companies to earn handsome commissions on the sale of excess insurance protection.

It is possible to safeguard your liability for paying excess by arranging car excess insurance. And here at Bettersafe we are specialists in the provision of both private car excess insurance and car hire excess insurance.

In both cases, the cover is in the form of a simple and straightforward, a standalone insurance policy which provides for the prompt reimbursement of any excess you pay on the settlement of a claim on the underlying, principal insurance for your own car or one you have hired.

Particular Benefits

In addition to the security of reimbursement of any excess you have paid, car excess insurance from an independent, specialist provider has the following particular benefits:

• In the case of excess cover for a hire car, the overriding benefit of a standalone policy issued by an independent specialist is that it is invariably cheaper – and typically more comprehensive than any offered by the hire car company itself.
• In the case of private car excess insurance, the benefits have to do with your ability to reduce the cost of your motor insurance premiums. Armed with the security of excess protection, you are more likely to agree to an additional voluntary excess on your private motor insurance in return for a reduction in the cost of premiums. You stand to win twice over, in other words – once on the reimbursement of any excess paid and second on your ability to enjoy a lower price for the premiums on the underlying, principal motor insurance.

Although you do not strictly need car excess insurance, therefore, you may be passing up a golden opportunity for making the most of your motor insurance.