Whenever you take out any form of bike insurance, you’ll be made aware of the excesses involved. Insurance excess comes into play whenever you make a claim on your motorbike insurance. It’s essentially a way for you to pay towards the damage as well. 

Keep in mind though that you only have to pay the excess if you were deemed at fault for any damage caused, and any repair costs were being paid by your insurer. 

There are two types of motorbike insurance excess that you need to be aware of when you decide to take out a policy. These excesses will often be combined and determine how much you will pay to make a claim on your bike insurance. It’s always worth checking your policy carefully when it comes to details like your excess. 

The two types of insurance excess are:

1 – Compulsory Excess

As the name suggests, your compulsory excess is set by your insurer, and is the amount you will have to pay in the event of a claim on your insurance. How much compulsory excess you need to pay will be determined by the type of motorbike insurance you have. You will only pay this excess in the event of a fault accident and claim for the damage to your motorbike.

2 – Voluntary Excess

There’s an optional amount of excess that you can choose to add on top of your compulsory excess, in order to see if this will reduce the price of your bike insurance premium. Your voluntary excess is always optional, and you will need to tell your insurer how much you would want to pay in the event of a claim. 

For example, if your compulsory excess is set at £250, and you also set a voluntary excess of £250 – then the total excess you would need to pay towards the cost of a claim would be £500. 

Do I always need a voluntary excess on my policy?

Your voluntary excess is always just that – voluntary. You will never have to add this onto your motorbike insurance policy, however the higher your voluntary excess is the lower your premiums could be. (Although this isn’t always the case, and depends on the type of policy you have.) 

Keep in mind that you will be asked to pay this amount when going through a claim, so don’t add on more than you can afford.