We are often told that excess in life is never a good thing, but it is excess of a different kind that is currently causing problems for many of Ireland’s accident repairers.

In these tough times, everyone is looking to make savings and one quick way to do this (when it comes to car insurance) is to up the excess. This can sometimes be made ridiculously easy, especially when pricing insurance on-line, where there is the dreaded sliding bar.  

Unfortunately, most drivers do not really understand the consequences of upping their insurance policy excess and it is something that they only find out about the hard way should they have an accident. This is causing problems on a number of levels for repairers.

Firstly, faced with the prospect of having to pay a large excess, and where the car is still drivable, many motorists do not pursue a claim and simply don’t make the repair, something that suits insurers, but is cutting off a significant source of work for repairers.

Secondly, insurers will now often offer to “pay” a percentage of the excess, in order to get a motorist to use an approved repairer. This often means that non-approved repairers have to go some way to match this offer to get a job. The insured driver is really the only one who benefits from this tactic and it is a practice that  calls into question the whole point of having a policy excess.

Lastly, with excesses now often many hundreds, or in some cases thousands of euro, repairers need to be very wary about taking on certain repairs. As already pointed out, many drivers are unaware of the implications of an excess and are shocked when presented with a bill from the repairer when they go to collect their car. This can cause at least some dissatisfaction and in many cases ugly outright disputes. Also recently, some cases have emerged where excesses thought to be in the hundreds of euro have turned out to be in the thousands and have far exceeded total repair cost.  

The Vehicle Repairer Association (VRA) has offered some simple advice to repairers to avoid problems. It says to always establish the level of excess on the policy before starting the repair. If in doubt, check with the insurer or ask to see the policy. The association also recommends that before repairers commence, ensure that the customer is 100% aware of what they will have to pay when collecting the car, thus avoiding nasty shocks later.