Boat Insurance: What is an excess?

An excess is the first amount of a claim which the policyholder has to pay. Its main purpose is to keep premiums down by reducing the number of small claims as these tend to have a high administrative cost relative to the value of the loss.

Excesses do not apply to every type of claim (e.g. claims made only under the liability cover are not usually subject to an excess).

In most instances you can chose what level of excess to pay within certain limits. As a general rule, the higher the excess the greater the discount, so excesses can be an effective way of bringing down the cost of your boat insurance policy.

Details of any excesses applying will be displayed on screen in the cover and summary pages. They will also be shown on your policy schedule.