Car insurance zero voluntary excess

inkydolphin

I changed the voluntary excess from £250 to £0 while getting a car insurance quote and the quote price didn't change at all. It says £0 voluntary excess on the policy documents. Can they go back on that if I make a claim? The compulsory excess is also £0.
Any thoughts appreciated.

MorningcoffeeIV

If you opted for a £0 voluntary excess, your voluntary excess will be £0 in the event of a claim.

SaverRate

If your policy documentation say £0 voluntary then thats what it will be.

inkydolphin

@MorningcoffeeIV @SaverRate Thanks both. Just seemed odd that it didn't affect the premium but must be one of those things that should not be assumed.

SaverRate

Who was the insurer? I had this with an insurer earlier in the year when I was getting quotes. Was very surprised but all policy documentation stated £0 excess

inkydolphin

SaverRate said:r

Who was the insurer? I had this with an insurer earlier in the year when I was getting quotes. Was very surprised but all policy documentation stated £0 excess

@SaverRate Aviva

SaverRate

inkydolphin said:

SaverRate said:r

Who was the insurer? I had this with an insurer earlier in the year when I was getting quotes. Was very surprised but all policy documentation stated £0 excess

@SaverRate Aviva

Thats the same insurer so I wouldn't worry 

DullGreyGuy

Negative selection

People who are bad risks choose high excesses as they think it will make it cheaper. People who are good risks choose lower excesses. It's a quirk where behaviour drives pricing in the same way a £30k hot hatch is more expensive to insure than a £100k middle exec GT

cymruchris

I've just renewed my insurance and went with Aviva - and yes sometimes 'choosing' a £0 voluntary excess doesn't make any difference. 

Bear in mind they do have different levels of cover though that are all 'comprehensive' but they're not all the same. So double check the small print of how much/what you're covered for doesn't change when you changed the excess value.

They have clear  £0 excess and £XXX excess options when browsing through things like gocompare, so although you'll be 'insured' whether you choose the £0 or the £XXX option - look carefully at the detail of what you're covered for and how much you can claim for each category of cover. It was a couple of weeks ago when I did it - but recall there were differences in things like audio unit cover, personal injury cover and such like, but the headline was you were comprehensively insured whichever path you went down.