An excess payment is the fixed contribution you must pay each time your car is repaired through your car insurance policy. Normally the payment is made directly to the accident repair garage when you collect the car. If your car is declared to be a write off, your insurance company will deduct the excess agreed on the policy from the settlement payment it makes to you.

Once the accident occured due to driver’s fault, and this is accepted by the third party claimant, you will be able to recover your excess payment from the other person’s insurer company. But what if the other driver is uninsured?

All drivers and car owners know for a fact that it’s a legal requirement (under Sec.143 of the 1988 Road and Traffic Act) to have insurance for any damage caused to third parties. But still many drive without insurance. A growing incidence of uninsured driving around the world is very difficult to come by and, for some reason, those drivers involved in breaking the law have every reasons to keep mum about it.

Calculations from the Department of Transport suggest that in the UK around 5% of vehicles are being driven without valid insurance. This sector does not only reuire costs on honest motorists in the form of higher premiums, but their visibility on our roads pose a serious risk to other road users. Consequently, uninsured driving is increasingly being regarded as a major social problem.

But driving without insurance is not a victimless infraction. If you have an accident with an uninsured driver and the mishap isn’t at all times your fault, the repair expenses incurred will be paid for by the Motor Insurer’s Bureau that’s funded in tis entirety by the industry, or by your car insurer. Therefore, if you’re involved in an accident caused by an uninsured driver you’ll eventually get you car repaired but you’ll still have to pay the excess and there’ll be no one to reclaim your excess from.

What is compulsory Excess?

A compulsory excess is the minimum excess payment your insurer will accept on your insurance policy. Minimum excesses do vary according to your personal details and driving record and by insurance company. Today the average excess is around £100, but younger drivers could be faced with excesses of up to £500 – whilst more mature, experienced drivers with a good driving record, could be offered an excess of just £50.

What is Voluntary Excess?
In order to reduce your insurance premium, you may offer to pay a higher excess than the compulsory excess demanded by your insurance company. Your voluntary excess is the extra amount over and above the compulsory excess that you agree to pay in the event of a claim on the policy. As a higher excess reduces the financial risk carried by your insurer, your insurer will be able to proffer you a significantly reduced premium.

The garage has repaired my car but it won’t release the car too me until I pay the policy excess to them. Is this right?

Yes, that is normal practice. But make sure you inspect the car when you collect it. Satisfy yourself that the repair is perfect. Always make sure that you keep your receipt for whatever excess payment as you will need this if you’re reclaiming against the third party insurance. And just in case there’s a problem or dispute, it’s best to ensure that the repair garage gives you the repair services you need. This will detail all the repairs incurred for your vehicle.

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I have to reveal up front that I own an older 3-series BMW, so I am quite aware of its abilities and drawbacks. And as many different types of automobiles that I drive, I am always satisfied to revisit my baby. But when I got behind the wheel of the new 330i ( Edmunds pricing at $39,184 ) I could tell this machine was a pointy step up in performance inside 1 / 4 mile.

At my first ride in the driver’s seat, I could not get over the ergonomics of the wheel. Each automobile has one, and I’ve handled some peculiar ones, but my grip has never felt more at home than with this 330i. ( Sadly , it wasn’t a heated steering while like the 7-series, and it was sort of cold outside. ) Then BMW mates this steering wheel with very precise steering for a sedan-level car.

The German automobiles avoid that Yank makers’ design, instead they provide a slower launch, but smoother, linear acceleration. And the silky 6-cylinder engine is particularly noticeable with a manual transmission in this vehicle. BMW finally added a 6th gear for the stick shift, and I say it is overdue. My old one has fifty thousand miles and the gearing still makes me look for 6th when I run up thru the gears – but sadly there are only five available. Since the 330i generates 255 horsepower, far more than I am used to for daily driving, I may have to upgrade my radar detector.

Yes, the car basics are spectacular – engine, ride, steering (even the steering wheel), but the electronics controls are a laughable discontentment. Anybody which has driven this car has a tale about turning on the turn signals from one side to the other and back again, during a vain attempt to turn them off. I know people in the area gave me a wider berth, thinking I was a confused and lost driver. The turning signal lever does not ‘click’ into place as the rest of the world has come to typically expect turn signals to function. With the 330i, you tap the signal, for example for passing, and it instantly flashes three times and then turns off. But you can hold the lever a little longer, and you get your normal-action from the turn signal. But on a soft turn, where the signal doesn’t turn off, you must flick it the other way to switch it off. But in the hurry of the instant, if it is more than a flick, then you indicated from your signals that you are turning in the wrong way. And this goes back & forth every once in a while till you get accustomed to it.

Other electronic oddities are the Navigation/Radio controls. There are some models of automobiles where you can intuitively muddle your way to what you want to get done. I could not generate that sort of luck whilst I was driving. My passenger had to frequently go through the owners’ manual that did not offer much guidance to get the map or radio station how we wanted. And we didn’t even have the added i-drive option that so many purchasers complain about. I’m at a loss to provide an explanation for the miss-timing of the automated windshield wipers. I adore that Jaguar has this feature down pat, but the 330i wipers were always going too swiftly or too slow ; so kept having to manually adjust the automated windshield wipers. An electronic improvement over the previous 3-series model is the traction control system. The old model would cut the power to the wheels in a glaring fashion, whilst this model is a seamless experience of artificially superior driving skill.

So while the driving experience is a quantum level improvement over the last generation change at BMW, their electronics package gives me some hesitation in purchasing one of these machines. In bumper to bumper traffic, the electronic gadgetry of the 330i becomes more annoying; and only on curvy roads without traffic or law enforcement can you experience the thrill of what this car can offer.

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