What Information Do You Need to Get Your Excess Waived When You’re Not at Fault?
If you’ve been in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you may not have to pay your excess. Most comprehensive car insurance policies in New Zealand include some form of excess waiver, sometimes called excess protection, which allows your insurer to waive or refund your excess if the other driver was at fault.
However, an excess waiver isn’t automatic. Your insurer must first be satisfied that the other driver can be identified and that the policy conditions for an excess waiver have been met. Until then, you’ll often be required to pay your excess, even if you believe the accident wasn’t your fault.
This guide explains what information insurers typically require, and why gathering it at the scene of the accident makes such a difference.
What information does my insurer need?
While the exact wording varies between policies, most insurers require the same core information before they’ll consider waiving your excess:
- The other driver’s name, phone number, and address
- The other vehicle’s registration number
- Evidence that allows your insurer to establish the other driver was at fault. This may include an admission from the other driver, photographs, witness statements, dashcam footage, or other supporting evidence
- Reasonable cooperation, such as providing any additional details your insurer asks for to help recover the cost from the at-fault party or their insurer
Some insurers will also ask for the other driver’s insurance company, if you have it, though this generally isn’t essential to the process.
Why the standard of fault matters
This is where policies can genuinely differ. Some insurers require the other driver to be entirely responsible for the accident before they’ll waive your excess, while others may waive it if the other party was predominantly responsible, depending on the wording of the policy.
In practice, this means two people in an almost identical accident could have different outcomes depending on their specific policy wording. It’s worth checking your own policy document, or asking your insurer directly, what standard applies to you.
What if the other driver won’t admit fault?
If the other driver disputes fault, or won’t cooperate, your insurer will typically still investigate using whatever evidence is available. This can include your own statement and diagram of the accident, the location and pattern of damage to your vehicle, the New Zealand Road Code to help establish liability, witness statements, and photographs. If your insurer can independently establish that the other driver was at fault, many policies will still allow the excess to be waived, even without the other driver’s cooperation. This is one of the reasons documenting the scene properly matters so much, evidence gathered at the time can support your case even if the other driver later disputes what happened.
Does it matter if the other driver is uninsured?
Whether the other driver has insurance usually doesn’t affect whether your excess can be waived. The key requirements are typically that the other driver can be identified and that your insurer is able to establish they were at fault. If those conditions are met, many insurers will still waive your excess and then seek recovery directly from the uninsured driver.
What if I can’t provide all the information?
Not every accident allows for a clean exchange of details, the other driver might leave before you can get their information, or the scene might be too chaotic to gather everything. If you’re missing key details, particularly the other driver’s identity, your insurer generally won’t be able to waive your excess because they may be unable to identify the person responsible or recover their costs, even if you’re confident the accident wasn’t your fault. In this situation, you’ll usually need to pay the excess yourself, since your insurer has no one to recover the cost from.
If this happens, it’s still worth reporting everything you do have. If you can only obtain one piece of information at the scene, make it the other vehicle’s registration number. Even if you couldn’t exchange names or contact details, the registration can help your insurer identify the registered owner and pursue recovery. If you weren’t able to obtain the registration, it’s worth checking whether CCTV or dashcam footage may be available from nearby businesses, as this can sometimes assist in identifying the vehicle after the fact.
Your insurer will generally attempt to establish the other driver’s details independently, as they will want to pursue recovery where possible. This is why the registration number carries such weight: it allows your insurer to trace the registered owner for recovery purposes.
Practical steps to give yourself the best chance
- Collect the other driver’s name, phone number, and vehicle registration at the scene, as outlined in our guide to What to Do After a Car Accident
- Take photographs of the vehicles, damage, and the scene, particularly if fault could later be disputed
- Note down any witness details if others saw the accident happen
- Report the accident to your insurer as soon as possible, and provide all the information you’ve gathered when you lodge your claim
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I still have to pay my excess upfront, even if I know I wasn’t at fault?
If you can provide the required details about the other driver and your insurer is able to confirm they were at fault, your excess will generally be waived. If you can’t provide all of this information, or liability hasn’t yet been confirmed, your insurer will usually ask you to pay the excess in the meantime. Depending on your insurer and how your claim is settled, you’ll either pay the excess to the repairer or your insurer will deduct it from the settlement amount. Once the other driver’s details are confirmed and liability has been established, your insurer will reimburse the excess if you’ve already paid it.
What if the other driver admits fault at the scene but later changes their story?
Your insurer will rely on the evidence available to them, including your statement, photographs, and any witness details, rather than solely on what was said at the scene. This is one of the reasons documenting the scene properly matters, even if the other driver seems cooperative at the time.
Does this apply to Third Party policies too, or only Comprehensive?
The standard excess waiver described above generally applies to Comprehensive cover only. If you only have Third Party cover and another insured driver damages your vehicle, your policy won’t cover the cost of your own repairs, so there’s no excess involved for that claim in the first place.
Some Third Party policies also include limited cover for damage caused by an uninsured driver, usually up to a specified limit. This benefit generally applies only if the other driver can be identified, is entirely at fault, and doesn’t hold valid insurance. It’s worth checking your specific policy wording to see whether this benefit applies to you.