Excess in car insurance refers to the extra money that the insured has to pay before filing a claim. This excess amount has to be paid in advance in order to get the insurance company to issue payment.

You can specify the excess amount that you will pay, at the time of buying the car insurance policy. So when your car is repaired through the purchased car insurance, you are also required to pay a particular amount for the repair costs. In case the car is beyond repair, the insurance company will pay you a settlement amount, minus the excess amount agreed upon. If the accident was not your fault, the insurance company of the other driver will pay for the costs of your car repair.

There are two types of excess premiums – compulsory excess and voluntary excess.

Compulsory excess is an amount that has to be paid while voluntary excess is an excess amount that a driver chooses to add to the car insurance policy. Young drivers below the age of 21 have to pay compulsory excess but those above 25 need not pay this excess amount.

Voluntary excess is paid for the sole reason of reducing the premiums that you pay towards the car insurance policy and when both these excesses are paid in conjunction with the other, the driver may have to pay quite a hefty sum when filing for a claim.

As the insurance excess amount that you pay for the car insurance policy affects the premiums that you pay, the higher the excess amount, the lower will be the premium. High excess car insurance is important for those who are prone to car trouble on the road or have expensive cars. It is also useful for young drivers because it helps reduce the premiums they have to pay towards the policy.

However, a high excess car insurance policy may not be ideal for everyone. This is because if the value of your car is low but the excess that you are paying is high, you will only end up receiving what you paid for the excess. Since you must first pay the excess to avail yourself of the insurance claim, it is worth considering if you need to pay the excess. In order to reduce your premium by a mere £10 to £20, you may end up paying more.