Insurance Excess – Things You Need To Know
In just one year in South Africa, the South African police recorded in the region of a million vehicle accidents, this is exactly why you need insurance excess.
With a staggering amount of unlicensed cars and unlicensed drivers on the road, you need to have your vehicle insured in South Africa. Insured drivers always have to pay an amount upfront by way of the insurance excess on their policy.
In the event of a serious accident such as when your car is written off, the excess amount would be deducted from the final claim payment.
Insurance Excess – Are You Aware You are Liable to Pay an Excess Amount
With car insurance excess, there are insurers who will let you negotiate the amount of the excess. This will affect the amount you pay with your premiums – the higher the excess, the lower the premiums.
If your car is stolen or you are involved in a car accident, you will need to claim on your car insurance, and to do this you will need to be aware of the terms and conditions around the excess amount you are liable for.
This is because consumers are often confused by what they’re liable for, how much they may have to pay and what cumulative excess is. Many drivers automatically assume that if they are in an accident, it is the guilty party who will be required to pay the excess on both vehicles, but this isn’t so.
The type of excess you are liable for will appear on your certificate of insurance. Not all policies have the same kind of excess and they also don’t apply in the same situations. Standard Excess is what you agree to contribute towards the making of all claims. Age excess applies in addition to the basic excess if the driver is under the age of 25.
Insurance Excess – What Precisely is Excess?
Excess is the amount that you as the driver will pay before the insurance company settles the rest of the claim. An excess waiver is where you arrange to pay an additional amount on top of your premium each month so that if you need to claim, you won’t have to pay an excess.
There are different excesses that can be levied, and it is for this reason that it is important to read your policy carefully and talk to your broker to find out which excesses you are liable for. There are some conditions for instance, where you will be required to pay an excess over and above your basic excess.
This will apply in certain instances –
● where the driver is under the age of 25
● your car hasn’t been fitted with the minimum security which is required, such as a tracking device
● the car is stolen
● you put in a claim in the first 6 months of taking out the policy.
You Get a Compulsory excess as well as a Voluntary Excess
Voluntary excess is sometimes used to reduce the insurance premium and to get cheaper car insurance. By increasing the voluntary excess you will receive a more affordable quote. One disadvantage to this is that in the event of a claim the voluntary excess with any compulsory excess can become quite expensive.
Sometimes you don’t have to pay an excess if you were not at fault and you can give details of the person who was, then the insurer will be able to claim their costs back from this person.
Insurance Excess – Understand what You’re Paying to Insure your Car
Car insurance is there to protect you and your family against the effects of damage or loss to your car, and with different cover options and features.
Find out all you can about car insurance excess so that you’re prepared for the payment you need to first make to get your car on the road again.
Request a car insurance quote now. Just complete and submit the form on this page
All info was correct at time of publishing October 2, 2018
