Excess protection cover
Shape your cover
If you have an accident in your car, why should you pay out if you don’t have to? You usually have to pay towards your insurance claim. Our excess protection optional extra is designed to cover you if your excess, up to £500, can't be recovered by a third party, for up to two claims a year during your period of insurance. That way, you won’t be out of pocket if you have to make a claim.
What’s included
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- If the third party has driven off and you haven't got their details
- If the third party is uninsured and you haven’t got their details
- If the car has been stolen
- If the accident was your fault
What's not covered
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- Any excess for theft or attempted theft of personal belongings.
- Any claim for windscreen or glass damage.
- Any claim where the motor insurer does not provide cover under the terms of the underlying motor insurance policy.
- The amount of your claim should be greater than your excess.
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It's quick and easy to get a quote, it's one of the highest levels of cover available.
View our policy document
Take a look at the policy section that relates to the comprehensive cover you are interested in.
Frequently asked questions
Excess protection is insurance cover that can either be included as standard or added to your car insurance policy at an additional cost, depending on your car insurance provider. It can help you cover the cost of your excess if it can’t be recovered from a third party in a claim.
If you have a car accident and need to make a claim, you will need to pay the excess set in your policy if you were at fault.
The amount of excess you need to pay when you claim is calculated by adding your compulsory excess – which is set by your insurer - and your voluntary excess – which is chosen by you when taking out a policy. It’s important to check your policy documents to find out what your excess is before you claim.
If you have excess protection cover, this is usually how it works:
- You make a claim.
- You pay your excess.
- If you can’t recover the cost of your excess from a third party, your insurer will refund your excess up to the limit set by your cover.
In most cases it is likely that you will have to pay your excess upfront. However, once your car insurer can prove that you were not at fault, this excess will be returned to you.
Sometimes the driver may have notified their insurer and admitted fault straight away, which means the excess could be waived and there would be nothing for you to pay upfront. But it’s best to be prepared to pay your excess if you need to make a claim.
Excess protection cover is not mandatory but can come in very handy to help you make sure you’re not out of pocket if you need to make a claim and can’t recover the cost from a third party.
Having excess protection can give you added peace of mind if you’re in an accident with an uninsured driver or if you were unable to collect details from the other driver, for example. This could mean having to cover the whole cost of the claim yourself, but if you have excess protection cover, you can recover your excess up to the amount set by your cover and have a much less stressful and costly experience.