What is an insurance excess (and when do you pay it)?

In short: your excess is the fixed amount you agree to pay towards a claim on your own car insurance policy. If your excess is £350 and a repair is claimed on your policy, you pay the first £350 and your insurer covers the rest. The one big exception: on a genuine non-fault claim, you shouldn’t have to pay any excess at all.

Here’s how it works.

The two types of excess

Your total excess is usually made up of two parts:

• Compulsory excess. Set by the insurer based on things like your car, your age and your driving history. You can’t change it.
• Voluntary excess. An amount you chose to add when you took out the policy. Adding a higher voluntary excess usually lowers your premium, but it means you pay more towards any claim.

Add the two together and that’s what you’d pay towards a claim on your own policy.

When do you actually pay it?

• At-fault claim: yes. If the accident was your fault and the repair goes through your own policy, your excess applies. We’ll always tell you exactly where you stand before any work starts.
• Non-fault claim: normally no. If someone else caused the accident, the claim runs against their insurer, so there’s no excess for you to pay and your no-claims bonus stays protected.
• If you’ve paid it but weren’t at fault: it can often be recovered. Where you’ve had to pay an excess on a non-fault accident, we chase the at-fault driver’s insurer to get it back for you.

Do you pay the excess to the garage or the insurer?

Usually you pay your excess to the repairer when the work is done, and the insurer settles the rest of the bill directly. On a non-fault job handled properly, there’s nothing for you to pay at all.

The bit most people don’t realise

You don’t have to accept a claim on your own policy just because it’s quickest. If the accident wasn’t your fault, it should be run as a non-fault claim against the other driver, which keeps your excess and your no-claims out of it entirely. If you’re not sure, tell us what happened and we’ll work out the right route with you.

This is general guidance, not financial advice. The exact excess on your policy is set by your insurer and shown in your documents.