Excess Protection Insurance

Is excess protection worth it?

Whether excess protection insurance is worth it for you, can only be answered by, you guessed it – You!

However, what we can advise is that by opting for excess protection cover, you can enjoy the reassurance that you won't have to come up with a substantial sum of money to cover the excess in the event of a claim. This allows you to benefit from a lower car insurance premium, while ensuring that you won't encounter significant expenses should an accident occur.

Taking this into consideration, we’d say that if you’re able to afford to give yourself that extra peace of mind in case an incident occurs, then excess protection cover is absolutely worth it!

Should I get excess protection on a hire car?

If an accident or incident occurs whilst you’re driving your hire car, you’d be expected to pay whatever the excess is on the insurance policy you have for the vehicle. If you would rather not pay this excess charge, then getting car hire excess insurance cover might be a worthwhile option for you.

By paying a smaller sum of money up front and in advance, you could avoid having to pay considerably more money to cover the cost of a claim. Despite that though, it is important that you find out as much about your car hire excess insurance policy before driving he vehicle, including what’s covered as standard and what you would expect to pay in excess in the event of a claim, because these factors might ultimately impact whether you think getting excess protection cover on a hire car is worth it or not.

What is voluntary excess?

If you’ve ever been shopping around for car insurance quotes, you’ll most likely have been offered the option to include voluntary excess on to your policy. It represents the sum of money you’re willing to contribute to cover the cost of a claim, and insurers offer this as an incentive, because adding voluntary excess to your policy could ultimately lower your car insurance premiums.

When exploring the option of adding voluntary excess to your policy, it’s worth assessing the impact of adjusting the voluntary excess and how it affects the price of the policy. You need to establish an voluntary excess amount you could afford, because even though committing to higher voluntary excess might bring down the cost of your policy, you would still need to fork out the voluntary excess amount you’ve chosen in the event of a claim.

To find out more about the ins and outs of voluntary excess, be sure to read our “What is Voluntary Excess?” guide.

What is compulsory excess?

Whilst with voluntary excess you’re able to adjust the amount you agree to contribute to a claim, compulsory excess is unmodifiable, and chosen by the insurance provider. It’s a fixed amount that you have no choice but to pay towards the cost of a car insurance claim.

Usually your insurer will make it clear to you how much compulsory excess you’d owe in the event of a claim, but we recommend that you look through your policy documentation and are aware of how much your compulsory excess would be, to avoid any unexpected and surprise expenses.