Is a lower excess worth the higher premium? Compare two quotes and find how often you'd need to claim for the lower excess to pay off.
Updated October 2026Built and checked by MaverickHow it's calculatedReport an error
Cheaper for you
About the same
claiming every 5 years
Lower excess costs
$150/yr
to save $750 a claim
Break-even
Every 5 yrs
claim more often than this and the lower excess pays
Premium vs car value
4.7% / 4.2%
lower / higher excess quote
Each excess spread over the 5 years you expect between claims. The claim frequency is your own estimate.
The yearly saving of the cheaper option if you claim every 2, 5, 10 or 20 years: coloured where the lower excess is cheaper, grey where the higher excess is.
A higher excess usually lowers your car insurance premium, but you pay that excess yourself each time you claim, generally whether or not you were at fault. Whether the lower premium is worth it comes down to how often you claim. Enter two quotes for the same cover at different excess levels and this calculator shows what the lower excess costs each year, how often you'd need to claim for it to pay off, and the expected yearly cost of each. It works only from your quotes, because premiums depend on the car, where it's kept and the drivers.
Quotes for a $30,000 car: $1,400 a year with a $750 excess, or $1,250 with a $1,500 excess. The driver expects to claim about once every five years.
The lower excess costs $150 a year more and saves $750 a claim, so it pays off only if you claim at least every 5 years. Claiming every five years, both cost about $1,550 a year; claim less often and the higher excess is cheaper.
The same quotes, for a driver who has claimed once in 20 years.
At one claim every 20 years, the $750 excess costs about $1,438 a year against $1,325 for the $1,500 excess, so the higher excess saves about $113 a year, as long as $1,500 is on hand if a claim comes.