Insurance excess question

PeterBishop

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone would know whether accidental damage excess is applied to the other car's damage or only to my own car?

In my policy it says: "You must pay the first €300 of any claim for accidental damage" so I understand I shouldn't pay these 300 if only the other car is repaired and not mine. However some of my friends think I'll have to pay the excess even if only the other car (and not mine) is fixed.

So the question would be: if it costs €500 to fix the other persons car will the insurance company pay the last €200 euro after I have payed the 1st €300? or will the insurance company pay the full €500?

Could someone confirm whether the excess is applied if only the other car is fixed and not mine?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Pete

Chippy01

PeterBishop wrote: »

?

In my policy it says: "You must pay the first €300 of any claim for accidental damage" Pete

Looks like your answer is in the question.

bazz26

You would need to double check with your insurance company but generally speaking the excess would have to be paid against any claim made by you or against you on your policy.

Our man in Havana

Nope.

The excess does not apply to any third party claims.

CiniO

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Nope.

The excess does not apply to any third party claims.

The same is stated in my Insurance Policy Document.

But when I contacted my insurer and asked about it, answer was not clear.

Here is part of a chat with my insurer (Allianz)

Question: 2. From what I understand, excess only applies to claims against my car, and doesn't apply to claims made by third parties against my policy (for damage which I caused to them). That seems to be clear in Policy document, but I heard different versions at Allianz customer service phone-line. So I wanted to know the definite answer for it.

Answer:
2) The policy excess is the amount that you will be responsible for in the event of a claim under the policy. So if someone hits into your car, you will be claiming of their insurance, you don't pay anything. If you are at fault and hit someone, they will claim off your insurance and you pay the excess.

So pretty much from what they have answered, it seems, that if I (having excess at 300euro) crash into someone and cause a damage f.e. for 500 euros, I will have to pay 300 towards this claim.
Seems to be against the rules which are written in the policy, so I assume that in case of a claim like this, I would have to get a lawyer to advice.

Our man in Havana

In your example, if you caused 500 euros of damage and had an excess of 300 euros they could not simply give the injured party 200 euros and tell them to go chase you for the rest. Under the terms of their licence granted by the Financial Regulator they must pay out to third parties in full. If they choose to chase the policyholder for any excess that is their own concern.

The wording of your policy is what applies, not some interpretation by someone in a call centre.

CiniO

Our man in Havana wrote: »

The wording of your policy is what applies, not some interpretation by someone in a call centre.

That's what I thought as well.
But whenever I ask any question about insurance here on boards, I get answer to ask my insurer.
What's the point then in asking insurer, if they know nothing, and information provided by them is useless?