What Is a Waiver of Excess?

Written By: Graham McKenzie on March 17, 2010 No Comment

Most car insurance policies have certain aspects of it that you will have to pay for if you have an accident or if your car gets vandalized. This part of the policy is commonly referred to a waiver of excess in many countries such as the UK. In the United States the waiver of excess is more commonly referred to as a deductible. If you’re in the UK and decide to rent a car then you’ll encounter a waiver of excess.

When the amount of the waiver of excess is exceeded in damages then you pay the amount of the waiver of excess and the insurance company covers what’s left over. So if you have a waiver of excess of $1,000 and an accident causes $5,000 in damages to your vehicle then you will have to pay the $1,000 up front and the insurance company will cover the other $4,000. While a waiver of excess is not included in the premium of the insurance policy you pay it is still very helpful.

In some accidents the damage is very little and you may not want to report it. In other cases the person who’s at fault may have their insurance cover the damage to your car. In either case you may want to avoid paying the excess waiver and higher premium costs from having an accident. If you’re a young driver then you will want to consider this heavily as your insurance premium is likely to skyrocket even with a minor fender bender.

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.

A waiver of excess is usually used to pay off damage that has occurred to your car due to an accident, theft, or harsh weather. Liability only will never have a waiver of excess since it only covers damages done to other vehicles. It’s possible to have better coverage for your waiver of access as well as a lower amount that you have to pay. However this will also increase the cost of your monthly payments.

A waiver of excess is not singled out to auto insurance policies. A waiver of excess is often found on health, travel, and home insurance. You should remember that if there’s damage to a rental car you may have to pay it out of your pocket and then be reimbursed by your insurance.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator for Carinsurancesa.co.za. South Arica?s leading car and vechile portal.