Understanding car excesses.

Understand car insurance excesses. And how we’ve simplified and reduced them.

Everyone deserves more affordable claims. So, we’ve reduced our car excess without raising our price. Our new standard excess is the lowest in NZ.1 Just $300.

Plus, we’ve binned all additional driver excesses too. No higher excess for drivers under 25. Or unlisted drivers. Everyone gets the same low $300 standard excess. Simple.

You can still reduce or increase your excess. But you can be sure it’ll be the same for every claim.  

Your excess is what you contribute when you make a claim. Say your excess is $300 and the repair costs $2,000. You’d pay $300 and we’d cover the rest, unless your excess is waived. If the car is repairable, the excess is paid to the repairer. Or, if the claim is paid out, the excess is deducted from the total amount.

You can choose a higher or lower excess than our standard. A higher excess can lower your premium but means you’ll pay more if you claim. A lower excess can increase your premium, but you’ll pay less to claim.

We’ve lowered all our car excess options without raising our prices. So, claims are simply more affordable with State.  

Normally, an insurer can apply an additional driver excess to your claim. These are based on who was using your car at the time of the incident, whether they were listed or unlisted on your policy, their license history, age and past claims. These can boost your excess by hundreds. We’ve axed them all.

A standard car excess is the default vehicle excess we use to provide an initial quote.1

If your car is already covered with us, your low excess change will come into effect automatically at renewal. You don’t need to do anything.

Your options. In a nutshell.

Comprehensive

Comprehensive car insurance with all the bells and whistles to cover damage to your car or someone else’s vehicle or stuff. Plus, options to boost your cover. Good choice for sensible Sallys.

Third Party, Fire & Theft

A little protection for your car and a lot of cover for damaging someone’s vehicle or stuff. Plus, options to boost your cover. Good choice for hedging your bets.

Third Party Only

No-frills car insurance that covers damage to someone else’s vehicle or stuff. Plus, options to boost your cover. Good choice for old bangers or risk takers.

1Standard car excess refers to a publicly available default vehicle excess that direct insurers use to provide an initial quote. This excludes excesses negotiated with or provided by third parties who are not direct insurers, such as brokers. It would apply to any claims, except where excess is waived. The lowered excesses apply to new State car policies quoted on or after 17 May 2026. Existing State car policies will have them applied automatically from the next renewal on or after 27 June 2026.