In an insurance policy, the deductible (in British English, the excess) is the amount paidout of pocket by the policy holder before an insurance provider will pay any expenses. In general usage, the term deductible may be used to describe one of several types of clauses that are used by insurance companies as a threshold for policy payments. Several deductibles can be set by the insurer based on the cause of the claim. For example, a single housing insurance policy may contain multiple deductible amounts for loss or damage arising from theft, fire, natural calamities, evacuation, etc.