Excess Car Insurance Sets your Claim in Action
You pay so much for car insurance. Therefore it can be frustrating when you claim to discover that you first have to pay an excess amount. The excess is the first amount of a claim that you must pay for the claim to proceed.
Insurance companies to not write such excesses in stone and there are in fact different options in this regard.
Car owners with insurance become aware of these excesses. Then they opt to pay a higher premium on their car insurance each month. That is to avoid having to pay any more from their own pockets when they need to claim.
If someone steals your car or it incurs damage then to claim you’ll have to fork out thousands of Rands first. But why? The whole point of car insurance excess is to prevent car owners from making small claims. These include claims for tiny dents here and there. With an excess a driver is more likely to take responsibility when driving around.
If the Car Accident Wasn’t My Fault, what Then?
Unfortunately, you have to pay these car insurance excesses whenever you submit a claim. Its the first payment required in the event of a claim, whether it was your fault or not. If you weren’t at fault, you can 
claim the excess amount back from the guilty party.
If there’s a dispute about who is at fault, it could be that you have to pay the excess initially while you wait for a decision. All that the insurance party essentially wants is to cover the administrative costs of the car insurance claim, regardless of whose fault the accident was.
Unfortunately there are certain circumstances when you cannot recover the excess, such as –
- when the legal costs are more than the recovery costs
- the guilty party doesn’t have assets to attach.
Read the Fine Print
If you’re looking at insurance for your car, always read the fine print in the policy contract so that you know what will happen when you claim. With car insurance excesses, nothing is set in stone, and for instance, if you’re in a high-risk age category such as being a young male in your 20s, this amount may well be higher.
There are also insurers who will levy an additional excess over and above the basic amount for when your car is stolen. You’ll find other insurers who want you to pay an excess amount when you’re involved in an accident after 11 o’clock at night.
There are insurance companies who have extra excesses with their comprehensive vehicle policy. They are added in the event of a claim of the drives is under the age of 25, if you as as the claimant have had your driver’s license for less than 2 years and whether there is a tracking device installed in the vehicle.
When choosing a voluntary excess, you need to take into account the compulsory excesses that apply to the policy. This compulsory excess will be combined with the voluntary amount, giving you a total policy excess.
Know How to Reduce your Excess Car Insurance
There is more to an insurance excess than meets the eye. Make sure you know what you’re liable for at claim stage to avoid any nasty surprises later on. Apart from opting to pay a higher voluntary amount, you can cut down the cost of your car insurance by installing a tracking device or an immobiliser and also shopping around for the best deals.
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All info was correct at time of publishing August 28, 2018
