What the excess on your policy really means
The excess is the part of each claim you pay yourself. How it works, and why a higher one is not always…
Mon–Fri 8:30–17:30, claims line 24 hours (sample)
Harbourline Insurance Brokers (sample) compare home, car, travel, life and business cover from several insurers, explain it in plain words and stay with you when you claim.
Tell us what you want to cover and when your current policy ends. An adviser calls you back within a working day.
An independent broker works for you, not for one insurer. Three steps, and the same adviser in all of them.
1
A call or a meeting of about half an hour: your home, car, trips, family or business, and the cover you hold now.
2
We ask several insurers on our panel and explain the differences in cover, excesses and exclusions, not only the price.
3
When something goes wrong you call your adviser, not a queue. We help with the forms and follow the claim up.
Why talk to a broker
A policy is a promise written in small print. We read it with you before you buy, so you know what is covered, what is not and what you pay towards a claim.
12
Insurers on our panel (sample)
24 h
Claims line, every day (sample)
30 days
Renewal notice before your policy ends
1
Named adviser for each client
Six kinds of cover for households and small businesses. Each one starts with a conversation about what you actually have.
Liability, premises, stock and equipment for shops, trades, studios and small offices.
Buildings, contents or both, with cover for accidental damage and things you take out of the house.
Comprehensive or third party, named drivers, a courtesy car and breakdown cover if you want it.
Life cover, critical illness and income protection, explained in plain words before you choose.
Single trips or a year of trips, with medical cover that fits where you go and what you do.
Buildings, rent and liability cover for one let flat or a handful of properties.
A team of seven brokers in an office on Elm Row (sample), arranging cover for local families and businesses since 2009 (sample).
We are not tied to one insurer. We are paid a commission by the insurer you choose, and we tell you how much before you buy. Through the year we keep in touch at three fixed points:
Month
1
We check the documents with you.
Month
6
Anything new to cover?
Month
11
A month before it ends.
When the kitchen flooded, I rang Ruth, not a call centre. She knew our policy and told us exactly what to photograph before the plumber came.
Sample client, home insurance
You get one named adviser who knows your policies. These are three of the seven people in the office (sample).
AM
Personal cover adviser (sample)
Home, car and travel. Ask her about older houses and young drivers.
DK
Business cover adviser (sample)
Shops, trades and small offices, and landlords with a few properties.
RO
Life and claims adviser (sample)
Life cover and income protection, and the person who follows your claim up.
Short, plain notes on cover, claims and renewals, written by the advisers.

The excess is the part of each claim you pay yourself. How it works, and why a higher one is not always…

Ten minutes with your phone now saves hours after a burglary or a flood (sample).

Why the medical questions matter, and what happens if one is answered wrongly (sample).
Call the office, write to us or come in. For a claim, use the claims line at any hour.
Office
Claims line, 24 hours (sample)
Office hours (sample)
Mon–Fri 8:30–17:30
14 Elm Row, Springfield
Demo photos from Pexels by Ron Lach, Vidal Balielo Jr., Atlantic Ambience, Kampus Production, Mikhail Nilov, RDNE Stock project, Sedanur Kunuk, Mix and Match Studio, Kindel Media. The theme download contains placeholder pictures, not these photos.