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 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.
Your excess waiver amount will vary depending on what insurance plan you decide to go with. The higher the deductible that you choose the lower insurance premium will be. If you are a safe driver and have very few claims then you will benefit more from having a higher deductible. However this can cause problems if you are in an accident and end up not being able to pay the excess waiver at the time.
If you have an insurance policy and find the waiver of excess to be a percent rather than a figure you should consider asking if they can get a regular figure for it. This is because the percent can hurt you if you are involved in an expensive accident and have to pay thousands of dollars rather than a set price.
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.
Car insurance isn’t the only use for a waiver of excess. You’ll also see it applied to other types of insurance such as health, travel, and home insurance. Finally you should remember that if you do have damage to a rental car that you may be charged the damage and the insurance company would have to reimburse you.
Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator for Carinsurancesa.co.za. South Arica?s leading car insurance portal.
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