Insurance Excess Question

Options
AndyBSG
AndyBSG Posts: 986 Forumite
in Motoring
Hopefully a simple one to answer.

I reversed into a car in a car park.

The other vehicle had a fair bit of damage to the bumper and mine just had a few scratches.

The other person claimed on my insurance with me at fault, I didn't claim for my damage as I simply polished the scratch out with a bit of T-Cut.

I have a £250 excess on my policy and have been waiting for my insurance to contact me regarding this.

It's been a while and my brother has said he 'thinks' that the excess only applies to claims I make and that for third party damage I won't pay the excess.

Is this true or should I be contacting my insurance to ask when i've got to pay the £250?

Comments

  • Fat_Walt
    Fat_Walt Posts: 750 Forumite
    Options
    Your brother is right, the excess will not apply as you haven't claimed.
  • marlot
    marlot Posts: 4,935 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Options
    There's normally no excess to pay on third party claims.
  • foxy-stoat
    foxy-stoat Posts: 6,879 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Options
    A quick read of the policy schedule and booklet would tell you that the excess does not apply to third party claims.
  • Aretnap
    Aretnap Posts: 5,215 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Options
    A very small number of insurers (XS Direct are the only one I could name) do apply the excess to all types of claim, but they're very much a minority, and generally at the more "specialist" end of the market. If you have a standard policy with a household name insurer you will almost certainly have no excess to pay on a third party claim.
  • foxy-stoat
    foxy-stoat Posts: 6,879 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Options
    Aretnap wrote: »
    A very small number of insurers (XS Direct are the only one I could name) do apply the excess to all types of claim, but they're very much a minority, and generally at the more "specialist" end of the market. If you have a standard policy with a household name insurer you will almost certainly have no excess to pay on a third party claim.

    Looks like noone who drives in the UK would take out a policy from these people unless they are uninsurable and shouldnt be on the road. The policy gives the underwriter an option to claim upto £3000 from the policyholder in the event of an accident for third party claims.

    I hope the premiums are around £50 for the year for this type of cover!
  • Aretnap
    Aretnap Posts: 5,215 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Options
    foxy-stoat wrote: »
    Looks like noone who drives in the UK would take out a policy from these people unless they are uninsurable and shouldnt be on the road. The policy gives the underwriter an option to claim upto £3000 from the policyholder in the event of an accident for third party claims.

    I hope the premiums are around £50 for the year for this type of cover!
    Apparently the main target market is young people who drive expensive cars, who (a) get very high quotes from mainstream insurers, (b) are probably just about wealthy enough to have £3000 squeezed out of them if it comes to it and (c) are likely to severely underestimate the risk of having to pay £3000 that they're taking on in return for a slightly cheaper insurance premium.
  • AndyBSG
    AndyBSG Posts: 986 Forumite
    Options
    Cheers for the feedback guys.

    Called up my insurance and asked and they confirmed all that you've said... So, that's £250 I thought I had to pay but now don't!
  • Ant555
    Ant555 Posts: 1,569 Forumite
    First Anniversary Photogenic First Post Name Dropper
    edited 10 October 2016 at 1:50PM
    Options
    AndyBSG wrote: »
    Called up my insurance and asked and they confirmed all that you've said... So, that's £250 I thought I had to pay but now don't!

    ... yet!

    However, I wonder what a claim will do to your next renewal quote - especially if you have reasonably high NCB at the moment? Maybe hit the comparison sites and get an idea if you put in your details with the (newly increased) number of claims to get an idea.
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.3K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.1K Life & Family
  • 248K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards