Recover your excess following a claim
Excess Protection allows you to be reimbursed for the cost of the excess on successful claims against your policy.
Return Your Excess Insurance allows you to be reimbursed for the cost of the excess on successful claims on your insurance, up to £500 per policy period. With our automatic reimbursement, there is no need to make a separate claim as we’ll process your excess refund upon notification from your insurer that your claim has been settled as fault or partial fault.
For Swinton Premier Car Insurance policies, Return Your Excess Insurance is included as standard.
What does Return Your Excess Insurance cover?
- Cover for up to £500 excess costs per policy period, including over multiple claims
- Cover for accidents deemed your fault, including fire, theft and malicious damage claims
Things you should know
- For excesses on claims against your core car insurance policy where you have had to pay the full excess
- Windscreen and glass claims are not covered
What is car insurance excess?
Car insurance excess is the amount of money you are required to pay when you make a claim on your policy. Simply put, your excess is the amount of money that you agree to put forward towards a claim, with your insurer covering the remaining costs.
Say your car insurance policy has an excess of £500, for example, and you claim £2000 worth of damage to your vehicle — you’ll pay the first £500 towards repair costs while your insurer will put forward the remaining £1500.
What determines how high my excess is?
Your excess is split into two parts. The first part is the compulsory excess, which is a non-negotiable amount set by your insurance company, based on your age and your car. The second part is the voluntary excess, which you can set yourself. So, for example, if the compulsory excess on your policy is £100, and you set your voluntary excess at £100, you would pay the first £200 of any claim.
Opting for a higher voluntary excess may bring the overall cost of your insurance down. However, you’ll need to ensure you’re able to pay the full total of your compulsory and voluntary excess in the event of a claim.
So, what is Return Your Excess Insurance?
Return Your Excess Insurance is an additional cover that allows you to be reimbursed for the excess that you have to pay in a claim. It is included as standard with Swinton Premier Car Insurance policies.
With Return Your Excess Insurance you can recover up to £500 of excess costs per policy period. Once we’re alerted by your insurer that your claim has been settled, we will automatically reimburse your excess for claims settled as fault or partial fault, taking the legwork out of claiming.
You’re also eligible to claim back your excess on non-fault claims where you have been unable to recover the excess from a liable 3rd party in a 6 month period, however you will need to call us to register this claim to alert us that an excess reimbursement is due.
I’m hiring a car. What is an excess damage waiver?
You can also buy car hire excess insurance. If the car you’ve hired is damaged or stolen during your rental period then you’ll have to pay the rental company an excess, i.e. part of the cost of repairing or replacing the vehicle. But if you take out an excess damage waiver - also known as a collision damage waiver - you’ll be able to recover these costs.
What is car hire excess insurance?
Car hire excess insurance protects you from the excess costs that you would be required to pay if you need to make a claim on a rental vehicle. If your rental car is damaged or stolen and you are held liable, this optional insurance coverage will reimburse you for any excess that you pay forward to the rental company.