First amount payable

The two terms describe one thing, but the context differs. "First amount payable" is the formal wording you will see on the policy schedule and in claim settlement letters, because it states precisely what it means — the first portion of any claim that you pay before the insurer pays the rest. "Excess" is simply the everyday word for the same amount.

Reading the documents literally matters because a schedule rarely lists a single first amount payable. There is usually a basic FAP, and then additional ones that attach to particular circumstances — a young or unlisted driver, theft or hijacking, no tracker fitted, or windscreen. The amount you actually pay on a given claim is the sum of every FAP the event triggers.

When you compare a quote, look past the headline basic figure to the full first-amount-payable structure in the wording. Two policies at a similar premium can leave you paying very different amounts at claim time, depending on how their additional FAPs are set.