What Is a Waiver of Excess?
On insurance policies in the UK you are likely to see a waiver of excess. This is a part of the insurance policy that is similar to a deductable in the United States. It’s the amount of money that you have to pay before the insurance company covers the damages to your vehicle. If you travel to the UK and have to rent a car then you’ll be likely to see a waiver of excess.
When the insurance coverage exceeds the deductable amount the waiver of excess will be paid in full. SO if you accumulate $5,000 in an accident then you will have to pay the excess waiver that was on the insurance policy. This fee is not included with your insurance premium and you’ll have to pay it when you report an accident that you want your policy to cover.
In the example above you’d be better off paying the $2,000 rather than having the insurance company pay the difference and then raise the premium of your car insurance because you made a claim. If you’re a young driver you should be cautious before reporting an insurance claim as most insurance companies will increase the premium by a good amount.
A waiver of excess can and will vary from plan to plan. If you choose for your policy to have a larger waiver of excess then your monthly payments will be lower as the insurance company will have to cover less in the event of an accident. Over time the increase that you would have had to pay will save you a good amount of money. This is true as long as you don’t get into an accident and have to pay the waiver at a time that is bad for you.
On some insurance policies you will see a percent for the waiver of excess rather than an actual amount. The percent can work for you or against you depending on your situation. If you have a low cost accident then the percent will be in your favor. However if the accident is an expensive one then you will be in a situation where you’ll have to pay a lot more.
When you pay the waiver of excess it usually is to cover damage that was done to your car whether it’s due to an accident, theft, or weather damage. Most of the time third party liability coverage does not have a deductable. If you choose to you can get additional coverage to give you a piece of mind.
You might have been led to believe that the waiver of excess is only for auto insurance. However there are many types of insurance that have a waiver of excess on them. Some other types of insurance that you’re likely to see a waiver of excess is health, travel, and home insurance. If you do rent a car in the UK it’s important that you understand that your credit card can and may be charged for damage before it’s reimbursed by the insurance company.
Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator for Carinsurancesa.co.za. South Arica?s leading Car Insurance portal.
