What Is the Excess On Young Drivers’ Car Insurance?
Caeva O'Callaghan | March 15th, 2023
When you’re a young driver, you’ll need to become familiar with insurance terms such as “claim” and “excess. But what is excess and why is it important?
An excess is the amount you, the insured party, will have to pay if there is a claim on your policy. Young drivers’ insurance is no different than any other policy: you will have an excess, but the amount differs from policy to policy.
Think of it as the price you pay for making a claim. Your insurer will deduct the excess from the full amount of your claim. Excesses vary from policy to policy, so make sure you know what yours is well before you need to pay it.
In this article, we’ll answer questions like:
- What is car insurance excess?
- Why is young drivers’ excess different?
- How can I pay less excess?
Don’t get caught out by an unexpected excess. Put money aside just in case you need to make a claim, and don’t forget you can usually adjust your excess amount if you need to.
What is car insurance excess?
The excess is the fixed amount you need to pay towards a claim. It helps insurance companies make a profit from covering you. When you pay the excess on a claim, your car insurance provider will add the rest. For example if your excess is €300 and you make a claim for €1,000, your insurance provider will pay out €700.
Increasing your excess may save you money on your monthly premiums. So if you need to save a little money for a few months, this could be a short term solution. But be careful: you do not want to be saddled with a large excess for long, because you’ll have to pay more if the worst happens.
The amount of excess you’ll have to pay varies a lot between insurers. The lowest standard excess on the market is €300 with Liberty and Axa Insurance. The highest standard excess is €350 with Allianz.
Prices may be higher with younger drivers, so talk to us to find the best price. As you’ll have fewer years’ no claims bonus under your seatbelt, it makes sense that you’ll have to pay higher premiums, but with a lower excess.
Why is young drivers’ excess different?
Insurance is all about the calculated assessment of risks. Unfortunately, young drivers don’t do so well when it comes to calculating risk, which is why insurance is more expensive for young and inexperienced drivers in general. Statistically speaking, the likelihood of a young driver having an accident and therefore needing to claim on their policy is higher than a driver with more experience on the road.
Unfortunately, the reality is that young drivers aged between 17-24 are just riskier than older drivers for a variety of reasons. For example, according to the RSA drivers between 16 and 19 are twice as likely to be involved in a fatal accident compared to those aged 40-49. And from 2018, 12 fatal accidents a year on average are caused by learner drivers. Of these accidents, 10 out of the 12 drivers were unaccompanied, which is why it’s a legal requirement for you to have an older or more experienced driver with you in the car while you’re still getting used to the road.
How can I pay less excess?
There is usually no excess if your car has been stolen. If you are involved in an accident, and you were at fault, your insurance company will arrange to have your car repaired at one of their approved garages. Before you collect your car, you must pay the policy excess to the garage.
There is usually no excess on windscreen claims. Check with us before you buy your policy, because a couple of insurers charge a €50 excess. Most insurers charge an excess if you do not use their preferred windscreen provider.
If you want to reduce your excess, check if you have voluntary or compulsory excess on your policy. Compulsory is a flat fee, which your insurance provider sets. Not every car insurance policy will have a compulsory excess, but a lot of them will.
But if you have a voluntary excess, you may be allowed to increase the excess you’ll need to pay. This usually means you pay a lower monthly or annual premium. It means that in exchange for your lower price, you’d pay more if you were to make a claim.
Talk to us today about your young driver’s car insurance
It is always worth talking to us about your car insurance and how to reducing your excess amount, so give us a call today to find out more. 60% of our customers who pick up the phone get a better quote when they talk to us directly or get an immediate car insurance quote online.
You can contact us Mon-Fri between 8.30am and 5.30pm on 0818 224433 or 042 9359051.