Car insurance excess in Belgium, cover by cover

The excess on a car insurance policy is the part of a claim you pay yourself, and it has no single amount: each cover in your policy has its own, sometimes zero, sometimes doubled. Theft and fire are often paid with no excess. Own damage almost always carries one. And compulsory third-party liability, which people assume is excess-free, can carry one too.

In Belgian policies the word you will see is franchise. This article does not redo the comparison of excess types, fixed, threshold ("English") or proportional: that is in the article on the threshold excess. Here we read a policy.

What is the excess on car insurance?

It is the amount the insurer keeps back from the payout on a covered claim. €1,800 of damage, a €500 excess: the insurer pays €1,300 and the rest is yours.

The word covers two mechanisms, though. On the covers that protect your own car, omnium (comprehensive) and mini-omnium (partial cover), the excess is deducted from what you are paid. On liability, which compensates other people, the victim is paid in full and you then repay the excess to your insurer. Same word, money flowing the other way.

Can liability cover have an excess?

Yes.

Many pages say otherwise, and for some profiles that is wrong. The Royal Decree of 16 April 2018, which sets the minimum conditions for motor liability policies in Belgium, provides for it in Article 49: the policyholder pays the insurer the excesses set in the contract, and that payment can never exceed what the insurer spent. The victim never sees this excess.

A real example. In its car product information sheet (reference 1251-044/1, version 04/26), Ethias provides that, when the policyholder is at least 30, a €800 liability excess applies to a claim caused by a driver under 26 whom the policy does not mention. If that young occasional driver is named, the excess drops to €500, and only for accidents between midnight and 7 a.m. on weekend nights and public holidays. Your 22-year-old son borrows the car on a Tuesday afternoon and causes a scrape: undeclared, he costs you €800; declared, nothing. The full mechanism is in the article on the named second driver.

Which covers are often paid with no excess?

More than you would think. Two public documents from Belgian insurers, checked on 31 October 2026, show it:

• KBC, for its full omnium: no excess for fire, theft, natural events, damage by martens, collision with stray animals or birds, or total loss. No excess either on glass repaired by a network repairer or by Carglass.
• Baloise, in the information sheet for its Mobility Safe 1 policy (B9001.MOT.02.26): no excess for fire, theft, glass breakage, natural events, animal collision, vandalism and total loss, except for a young driver.

So the excess concentrates on one cover: own damage. The collision, the bumper against a post, the botched parking manoeuvre. That is where it bites, and that is where you need to read it.

The excess, cover by cover

This table describes trends found in public documents. Your policy may differ: only your specific conditions are binding.

Why can the same excess double?

Because it often depends on two conditions outside the amount you chose: the garage and age. At Ethias, again according to the 04/26 sheet, an excess of €0, €500 or €1,000 at an approved repairer becomes €500, €1,000 and €1,500 at a non-approved garage, and a policyholder under 26 has €500 imposed whatever the repairer. Take a bumper and a headlight at €2,400 with a €500 excess: you receive €1,900 in the network and €1,400 outside it, a €500 gap for the same damage on the same policy, simply because you wanted your local mechanic, which remains a defensible choice as long as you know what it costs.

Where do you read the excess in your policy?

In several places, never just one:

• The specific conditions: the own-damage excess, the formula taken out, the named drivers. That is your figure.
• The general conditions: covers with no excess, increases outside the network, age-linked excesses. Search the PDF for "franchise": every hit counts.
• The liability chapter: often skipped, it is where the young driver excess sits.
• The assistance chapter: any minimum distance between the breakdown and your home, covered in the article on breakdown cover.
• The product information sheet: a standardised summary, useful to compare two offers, not enough to settle a claim.

How to read the first document is explained in the article on specific conditions, and the windscreen case in the one on glass cover.

Can the insurer change the excess mid-contract?

It can, but you keep control: a less favourable excess gives you the right to cancel (Article 20 of the Royal Decree of 16 April 2018), unless a clear clause in the policy already provided for the change. An excess that rises with no premium increase is still a price increase.

Does excess-free car insurance exist?

Yes, on some covers and in some formulas: "zero excess" options or excess buy-back in the approved network, for a higher premium. The figures belong to the simulator. My rule fits in one line.

First check which cover the excess you want to remove actually applies to.

If it only concerns own damage on a ten-year-old car, the option may cost more than it protects. The not-at-fault accident has its own article, on the omnium excess after a not-at-fault accident.

To set the formulas side by side, the comparison tool lines up the covers, the ranking of the best car insurers details what each company covers and refuses, and the quiz frames the level of cover you need.

The text of the Royal Decree of 16 April 2018 (Articles 20, 27 and 49, in French) is published on Justel. Wikifin, the financial education programme of the FSMA (Belgium's financial services regulator), explains what omnium and mini-omnium cover. If you dispute an excess, the Insurance Ombudsman, Belgium's free out-of-court complaints service, handles complaints at no cost. Insurer documents consulted on 31/10/2026: Ethias car general conditions, KBC car insurance and Baloise Mobility Safe 1 information sheet (all in French).

This site informs and compares. It is not an insurance intermediary and gives no individual recommendation: your specific conditions, and only they, prevail.