Voluntary excess

Eternal1

If I have an accident where the other driver is responsible and I have proof on a dashcam for example, do I actually have to pay anything towards my claim?

Essentially what I'm asking is are there any cases where I have to pay? What about random damage where someone breaks my window at night or a wing mirror got knocked off when the car was parked etc?

daveyjp

If a third party is involved, you can identify them and their insurance company accept responsibility you don't have to pay anything.

Its why if your car can still be driven after an incident it can be beneficial not to arrange any repairs until liability is sorted.

EdGasketTheSecond

You have to pay an excess for damage to your own car:
1) Damage caused by you
2) Damage caused by someone else who can't be traced, or disputes liability and it goes against you
3) Theft
4) Vandalism


You don't pay an excess for damage you do to someone else's car unless you have really rubbish insurance.

debtdebt

Note that if you are involved in an accident and the third party do not accept liability despite what your dash cam shows, you will still be charged your excess if you allow your own insurers to deal with the repairs/writeoff.

You will then have to recover the excess yourself from the third party.

Aretnap

Your excess is the part of any claim for damage to your car that your policy does not cover. Your fault, someone else's fault, nobodies fault in particular, it makes no difference.- it will be payable if you make a claim on your policy.

What you can do is reclaim your excess from an at fault person after you have paid it, provided (1) you can find him (2) you can prove he was at fault and (3) he has the money to pay you, or insurance to cover his liabilities. A dash cam will help with some parts of this process, but not all of them.

Sometimes if there is no dispute about liability some insurers will offer to waive your excess, and claim it back from the third party themselves. However if they do it is generally as a goodwill gesture rather than as something you have the right to demand from them. Alternatively you can choose not to claim on your own policy at all and go direct to the third party insurer, who will pay the full cost of repairs with no excess, provided they agree with your view of liability.