Save money on car hire excess insurance and take a winter break

iCarhireinsurance.com a major car hire excess insurance and van hire excess insurance company issued a press release on the 23rd January.

This very informative news release said "Over two million people booked a holiday last week according to ABTA and for those planning several breaks with the use of a hire car, iCarhireinsurance, the award-winning car hire insurance broker, recommends that consumers should also purchase an annual policy for excess car hire insurance at the same time which could save up to £400 a year*(enough to pay for a mini winter sun break!).

Travellers often feel compelled to buy their car hire excess insurance from the rental company on arrival as they pick up their car, which is usually from £17 a day*, with 83% not realising they could purchase it from another supplier and over two thirds (71%) not knowing that this insurance is significantly more expensive than they could buy elsewhere (YouGov research 2011*).

“By the time people have a week’s break in February, a week at Easter and perhaps two weeks in the summer, they could well have spent over £400 on excess car hire insurance if they buy it from the car rental company compared with buying a one off annual policy from £39.99 with iCarhireinsurance.com,” said Ernesto Suarez, CEO and founder of iCarhireinsurance.com.

“We don’t begrudge sales staff at car rental desks trying to earn commission selling excess car hire insurance but we do begrudge the exorbitant cost, which is on average over 80% (see Table 1 below) more than buying the insurance direct from iCarhireinsurance.com. We recommend you put your hard earned cash to better use and have a free holiday in the autumn instead with the £400 saved.”

Many customers are unaware, until they collect their hire car, that in the event of damage or theft, even if it’s not their fault, they are liable for excess charges of up to £2000. At this point, unless they purchase excess protection from the rental-desk, they are left exposed. These policies are usually expensive, approximately £17 a day (see Table 1) and limited in scope.

Ernesto Suarez, CEO and founder of iCarhireinsurance.com, said: “Even a small chip on a windscreen or a scratch down the side of the car can leave people liable for hundreds of pounds if they don’t have an excess insurance policy. Our advice is simple - buy before you fly - to get the best excess car hire cover, at the most economical price and put the money saved towards another holiday.”

iCarhireinsurance.com’s excess insurance also protects vulnerable parts of the rental vehicle that are usually excluded by the rental companies’ policies.
As well as annual policies from £39.99, iCarhireinsurance.com also offers daily cover from £2.99.
Key Benefits of Stand-Alone Car Hire Excess Policies:

• Annual or Daily cover
• Protect yourself against excess charges for damage and theft
• Cover for damage to areas usually excluded by the rental company such as windscreens, tyres, roof and undercarriage
• European or Worldwide coverage
• UK automatically included for UK residents
• No distance from home restrictions
• Cover for additional drivers named on the rental agreement

The Survey: The research was undertaken for iCarhireinsurance.com by YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2007 adults, of which 1103 had hired a car. Fieldwork was undertaken between 1 - 4 April 2011. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+)."

So if you are thinking of saving some money on your car hire excess insurance, visit the iCarhireinsurance.com website here

Source: iCarhireinsurance - Halo Insurance Services Ltd - January 2012

Vicki Butler-Henderson suggests Top 10 Holiday Driving Routesiving

Insurance4carhire.com the long established car hire excess insurance company issued a press release on the 18th January 2012.

They said that new research commissioned by Insurance4carhire, the UKs largest provider of vehicle rental excess protection, has revealed that almost two thirds (63%) of Brits are either planning or considering a driving holiday in 2012 – whether at home or abroad.  Interestingly it appears empty nesters are most keen, with 41% of those aged over 45 making up the largest group planning or considering a driving trip .

Channel 5's Fifth Gear presenter and motoring journalist  Vicki Butler-Henderson, comments in the press release saying: “Driving is one of the best ways to take in the scenery through some of the most beautiful routes around the world.  However, it is important to plan ahead - from selecting the right vehicle for the terrain, to reading up on the local road laws and signs to researching routes.  While we don’t plan for mishaps, it is equally importantly to ensure you have sufficient insurance and excess cover as a small prang, could end up costing as much as the holiday.”

Vicki has listed the top 10 Driving routes that include The Dordogne region, France,  Route 66, Chicago to Los Angeles , USA, Tuscany, Italy  and The Col de Turini, Monaco. 

Find out the full details Here

To find out more about the range of car hire excess insurance products from insurance4carhire.com Click Here (Remember by following that link you can save money on some of their car hire excess policies)

iCarhireinsurance comes up with New Year Tips to stop car renters being ripped off

To start 2012 off on the right foot the iCarhireinsurance.com team has come up with Five useful tips to avoid sales pressure at the car rental desk and also making sure that people hiring a car are not ripped off when they return a hire car.

Tip One: Take Photographic Evidence - something I have personally done when I have rented when I could not get anyone to sign off my comments when I collected a hire car.

Tip Two:  Audit Trail icarhireinsurance suggests downloading a GPS Tracking app to the renter's smart phone to create an audit trail of where they have been.

Tip Three: Check Final Bill for Overcharging - Check the  final bill from the hire car company to ensure that extras have not been added like petrol etc. Also get the car signed off when you return it and check your credit card statement.

Tip Four: Don't buy insurance from the Car Hire Rental Desk

 - they say a car hire customer can save up to 80% buying car hire excess insurance in advance from iCarhireinsurance.com - Find out more Here

Tip Five: Take Photographic Evidence at the End of the Trip - If someone can't check your car in, then take photos. Digital photos should be able to show dates if the photo is taken by a digital camera or mobile phone.

So if you are planning on hiring a car in the near future or even later in the year it is worthwhile considering all of these.

Christmas Greetings from Economy Car Hire

Find out more Here about Economy Car Hire HERE

There is still time to buy your car hire excess insurance for the Christmas holidays

The Christmas holiday season is just under a week away and many people throughout the world will be hiring a car.


Did you know that if you buy your car hire excess insurance from an independent car hire excess insurance company it will usually be a lot cheaper than if you buy the product from the car hire company?


It can cost a small fortune and at this time of year when every penny / cent (or whatever your currency)counts, you don't want to be wasting money.


With many car hire excess insurance policies you can buy these well in advance and not have them coming into operation for a couple of months.


Annual policies will save even more money, particularly if you hire a car more than once a year, or your initial hire is over ten days (approximately depending on the company).


Remember to take the polict documenation with you so you have contact info or can prove to the car hire company that you have your OWN insurance. Unfortunately there are still car hire company representatives who will tell you your policy is not valid or you cannot have the vehicle unless you buy their expensive insurance, so stand your ground and and don't be afraid to compain.

In the UK and Ireland this year as Christmas falls on a Sunday there is an extended apres Christmas public holiday - Monday and Tuesday so this means as normal the hard working retailers who have worked hard with the build up to Christmas, have a day off and then have to open up for the sales (if they are not already running one before Christmas) so you might want to take advantage if some of the bargains about and visit your nearest furnishing store.


The only problem is it is going to be difficult getting all those rather large bargains home, so what do you do - hire a van. Just like when you hire a car, you will have to pay for van hire excess insurance and again it will work out cheaper at a specialist insurance company.

After all of the festive  excitement you might feel like a brief holiday to get over it. What about a few days touring the south of Spain in a motorhome? Not a bad idea, however just like with car hire and van hire you also have to have excess insurance when you hire a motorhome. Motorhomes are costly vehicles to buy for the hire company and unlike a car or van when they are only kept for a couple of years, many companies are now keeping them for up to ten years.

Specialist excess insurance companies are taking this into consideration  and are adapting theire policies accordingly.

Finally if you are hiring a car this year, beware of "bogus car hire deals" We published on this blog a couple of days a warning from the The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), to be on the lookout for exceptionally cheap car rental deals See Christmas car hire renters warned against bogus car hire deals

So where do you find a very good selection of competively priced Car Hire Excess Insurance - Van Hire Excess Insurance and Motorhome Hire Excess Insurance companies?

You will find a great choice at the insurance4carrental.com marketing site. Just Click Here and then  find the approprate section just below the words car hire excess insurance

Have a great Christmas break and remember the drink drive laws in whatever country you live in. In some countries the legal limit is still a glass of wine or pint of beer in others absolutely no drinking if you intend to drive.  

Christmas car hire renters warned against bogus car hire deals

With the Christmas holiday season only days away, the The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), the trade body for the UK car rental industry, is again warning customers to take extra care when confronted with cheap deals for Christmas car hire on the Internet or in the press.

In their press release issued on the 13th December they advised: Festive season travellers were caught out by bogus car hire companies this time last year, handing over deposits of hundreds of pounds for cars that never materialised.

The BVRLA believes that similar scams are being planned this year and has already made contact with Police and Trading Standards over one potential threat.


“These companies offer unbeatable prices and free delivery – but they really are too good to be true,” says BVRLA chief executive, John Lewis.

“Unfortunately it is very easy for fraudsters to build a simple website and set up a call centre to pass themselves off as legitimate businesses.

These sham operators are damaging the reputation of car rental and many other industries. We are working with the authorities to help stamp them out.”



In the meantime, the BVRLA is offering five simple tips for customers looking for safe and hassle-free car or van rental:

1. Only use a BVRLA member. Seeing our logo on the front desk or website is a sign that you are dealing with a reputable company that has been vetted and operates to a professional code of conduct. You will also be able to use our conciliation service in the event of any dispute. Find a BVRLA member via the ‘member locator’ on the BVRLA website 


2. Never hand over cash. Most reputable rental companies will only want to accept credit/debit card payment


3. Make sure the company is operating from a bona fide commercial premises, not a PO Box or virtual office, no matter how prestigious the location sounds



4. Make sure the company actually owns and operates the cars it is offering - all BVRLA members operate their own rental fleet.



5. Remember, if the price or service being offered seems too good to be true, it probably is and you may well end up out of pocket and disappointed!

Source BVRLA

Looking for car hire for that Christmas holiday trip? or January holiday?
Click on the image below to find out information abot Holiday Autos - Economy Car Hire and Carrental.co.uk

iCarhireinsurance.com urges Car hire renters this Christmas not to fall victim in excess insurance policies

Don't Lose Your Christmas Cheer with the Hire Car says iCarhireinsurance.com's Press Release of the 14th December 2011.

iCarhireinsurance.com, is a leading car hire excess insurance provider (and van hire excess insurance provider), is urging people renting a car this Christmas to make sure that they don’t fall victim to a loophole in many excess insurance policies which fails to cover vehicles damaged within 150kms of the customer’s home, even if the car was hired from within that distance.


Hiring a car for short periods is an increasingly attractive option in the current economic downturn, but many people will be ignorant to the fact that their excess insurance policies may not include claims within this distance range even if the car is stolen or involved in an accident that wasn’t the customer’s fault.


“A good car hire excess insurance policy should provide you with full cover from home as well as covering you for the vulnerable parts of the vehicle like the windows, tyres, roof or undercarriage,” said Ernesto Suarez, founder and CEO of iCarhireinsurance.com. “We have found that the majority of policies bought direct from car hire excess specialists fail consumers in this area. We are urging people to read the small print in their excess policies to ensure their spirits are not dampened this Christmas.”

A 2011 survey* conducted by YouGov, on behalf of iCarhireinsurance.com, revealed that there was widespread ignorance about what excess insurance did and did not cover with eight out of ten people (85%) not knowing that some excess insurance doesn’t include damage to windows, tyres, roof or undercarriage or driving within 150 km of home.


iCarhireinsurance.com is one of the few providers that covers drivers wanting to hire cars near their home. It also includes cover for damage to the windows, tyres, roof and undercarriage - vulnerable parts of the car excluded by many providers.

 iCarhireinsurance.com’s policies start at just £2.99 a day, compared with approximately £18 a day (see Table 1) if bought direct from the rental company. Annual polices start from £39.99.

Key Benefits of Stand-Alone Car Hire Excess Policies

Annual or Daily cover


Protect yourself against excess charges for damage and theft


Cover for damage to areas usually excluded by the rental company such as windscreens, tyres, roof and undercarriage


European or Worldwide coverage


UK automatically included for UK residents


No distance from home restrictions


Cover for additional drivers named on the rental agreement
 
*The Survey: The research was undertaken for iCarhireinsurance.com by YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2007 adults, of which 1103 had hired a car. Fieldwork was undertaken between 1 - 4 April 2011. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
 
Excess Europe: Daily from £2.99, Annual from £39.99



Excess Worldwide: Daily from £3.99, Annual from £59.99


USA and Canada: Daily from £6.99, Annual from £119.99


Worldwide Plus: Annual from £139.99

Table 1 (below): Excess Insurance cost for UK resident renting a VW Golf class car in Barcelona (Barcelona Airport) for a three day rental from 29.07.2011 - 01.08.2011

Average daily excess from the rental companies is €21.42 or £18.59.



This compares with iCarhireinsurance.com excess insurance at £2.99 a day, which gives an 83% saving.


For a 14 day hire period, average excess insurance would cost £18 multiplied by 14 = £252. This deducted from an iCarhireinsurance.com 14 day policy costing £41.86, amounts to a saving of £210.14.

Conversion calculated on 26 September 2011: 1 EUR = 0.868053 GBP 1 GBP = 1.15200 EUR

Source iCarhireinsurance.co.uk

Want to find out more about buying iCarhireinsurance Car hire excess insurance and Van hire excess insurance?
Click on logo

Holiday Autos improves it's marketing team

"The Drum  Modern Marketing and Media" website has said that Car hire/Van hire/Motorhome hire firm Holiday Autos has boosted its team with the appointment of Kevin Currie as Global Director of Digital Marketing and Elise Newman as Global Head of Affiliate Marketing and Meta Search.


Kevin Currie joins from hotel website Octopus.com where he was marketing director. Before that he was general managwer of Somewhere2stay and head of web at Virgin Holidays. He has just joined Holiday Autos

Elise Newman has moved  from Affiliate Window where she oversaw client strategy and relationship management in her role as key accounts team leader.

She has previously held senior management roles at LinkShare Corporation and Blue Chip Holidays. She has been with Holiday Autos since September 2011

Isabelle Ratinaud, Managing Director of Holiday Autos, said: "Kevin and Elise bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that will help to develop and shape the growth of Holiday Autos. I’m very excited that they are coming on board at such a pivotal time for the company."

holiday autos is the world's largest and leading leisure car hire broker - they offer car hire -  Hybrid Car Hire  - Van Hire and Motorhome Hire in location around the world to find out more Click Here 

Part Source: The Drum.

Insurance4CarHire appoints Publicasity

"The Holmes Report" issued a news release on the 11th December 2011 "Insurance4CarHire Taps Publicasity For UK PR Drive"


Publicasity has been appointed by Insurance4CarHire, the UK's largest provider of vehicle rental excess protection.


Following a three-way pitch, Publicasity has been selected to deliver an integrated campaign across traditional PR and social media to showcase Insurance4CarHire’s industry leadership, quality of service and customer advocacy.


Publicasity will lead an on- and offline press office function in addition to a number of strategic, awareness-driving projects aimed at educating consumers on the wider category while driving a clear, differentiated brand personality. The agency will also lead on the creation and revamp of the brand's social media platforms, and help conduct ongoing engagement thereafter.


“We were very impressed with Publicasity’s approach, their creativity in communicating our core messages and thorough understanding of our target audience," said Gary Webb, marketing director at Insurance4CarHire. "This was underpinned by a robust measurement system which combined to make for a very well developed pitch."

Source The Holmes Report - It provides insight, knowledge and recognition to public relations professionals.

If you buy the annual Europe insurance4carhire car hire excess insurance through a dedicated link on the insurance4carrental.com website you pay only £39.20 instead of the usual £49.00

If you buy the Annual Worldwide you save money as well. You only pay £52.00 instead of the £65.00 price.  If you click on the "Protect yourself from high car hire excess charges" image on the left you go straight to the "special" discounted page on the insurance4carhire.com website.   

Now is the time to buy for your Christmas and January holidays.

Jubilee replaces Chartis as underwriter on insurance4carhire Europe

Insurance Insight is running a news report that Jubilee replaces Chartis as underwriter for Towergate's insurance4carhire Europe. As an agent for advertisements from insurance4carhire we were informed at the end of October.

 Jubilee have agreed a number of cover enhancements to the Annual product.

The major enhancements are indicated below:



No age restrictions - drivers between the ages of 21 and 85 are eligible for cover


Towing costs relating to damage or mechanical breakdown are now included


Increased excess or repair costs up to a maximum of £4,000 any one incident and up to a maximum of £5,000 during any one period of insurance.


Cover now includes Misfueling up to a maximum of £500 any one incident and up to a maximum of £2,000 in any one period of insurance


In-Country Rentals - this means there is no longer a 150kms restriction from where you live.

All for the same price! ...and if someone buys the annual Europe product via the insurance4carrental.com website it only costs £39.20 for the year.

According to Insurance Insight's report -

Simon Townsend, Divisional Managing Director at Towergate Underwriting Group, added: "Jubilee has a proven track record in combining its broad scheme expertise and knowledge with the strength of the Lloyd's platform to create solutions that bring more depth and relevance to the needs of affinity schemes."

Warren Campbell, Affinity and Special Risks Underwriter at Jubilee, said: "We have been able to extend the benefits for Insurance4carhire.com's customers and ensure they have a competitively priced, market-leading solution to protect their excess payments. The scheme reflects our strategy of building a diverse book of niche scheme products."



Source: Insurance Insight and insurance4carhire