Car insurance excess explained

What you need to know about excess payments

1. The car insurance excess amount is the first amount payable by you when your claim is settled or paid out.
2. It serves to motivate you to be more responsible, to take better care of your valuables and to prevent small, petty claims.
3. Your excess payment will need to be paid directly to the service provider.
4. If your claim is settled in cash, your insurance company will deduct the excess from the final payout amount.
5. If the accident was not your fault, you'll still need to pay an excess, but the legal team will try to recover the cost from the liable party.
6. A voluntary excess means that you’re paying a higher excess to enjoy a lower monthly insurance premium.
7. Many insurers will charge you a proportionate excess (i.e. you pay a set percentage of the final claim amount).
8. Some insurers charge different excesses, depending on the nature of your claim (i.e. car theft vs. car accident).
9. If you have OUTsurance car insurance, you’ll always pay a fixed excess amount, irrespective of the final claim amount.

We only charge a fixed excess – irrespective of the nature of your claim or the claim amount. Your default car insurance excess is a set amount, but we’re happy to update this to a different amount (within limits), depending on what suits your budget best. This fixed amount will then apply to all vehicle-related claims.

At OUTsurance, the only time an additional car insurance excess will come into play when someone who is younger than 25 and not listed as the regular driver, drives your car (with your permission) and gets into a car accident. Other than that – your excess stays fixed. 

Insured somewhere else? You may be paying a percentage-based excess

If you’re not insured with OUTsurance, you may be asked to pay a percentage-based excess. This means that you’ll be liable to pay a set percentage of the actual car insurance claim amount. Depending on where you’re insured, this can mean anything between 5-10% of the total damages.

For example: If your car gets stolen and the value of your car was set at R110,000 with a proportionate excess set at 10%, you’ll need to pay an excess of R11,000.

Insurers may charge additional car insurance excesses

If you’re not insured with us, you may need to pay your insurer an additional car insurance excess on top of your standard excess in case:

• the driver has a license other than code 08 / B / EB
• the driver has no previous insurance
• the driver only has a learner’s license
• you claim during your first 3 months
• you claim for the same type of incident in the same 12-month period
• you obtained your driver’s license less than two years ago
• the incident driver is not the regular driver
• there’s no third party involved
• if you’re under a specified age
• if the accident occurs outside of South African borders
• if the event occurs between midnight and 5 o’clock the next morning.

For example: If you’re not insured with OUTsurance and someone other than the regular driver drives the insured vehicle and gets into an accident, you may need to pay an additional excess on top of your standard excess.

Your excess amount may even depend on the nature of your claim.

Not insured with OUTsurance? Chances are that your excess amount will vary depending on the nature of your claim. So, if you were involved in an accident, your excess may be different than if your car was stolen. Also, you may be paying a different excess, simply because your vehicle was damaged or stolen and not kept in your locked garage.