Changes to French registration plates from 2009 - Black on White registration plates on French cars from 2009

From the 15th April 2009 the département number will no longer be on the French registration plate. The registration plates will no longer be black on white at the front and black on yellow at the rear as in the UK, but black on white on the front and rear as in Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Poland and many other European countries.

They are made up of two letters, three numbers and two letters these are separated by hyphens(e.g. DE-354-FG) and will be allocated to a vehicle for life unlike presently if the owner moves from département to département. The new plates do not contain any element that identifies where the car owner lives.The Government claimed that this would facilitate police dealing with stolen or suspect vehicles.

There was opposition from the suppression of department numbers (75,62,48,06 etc) on the registration plates and there was a Government climbdown. A car owner may add the official logo of their a French département to the their new style plate together with the département number below it on the right hand side of the number plate. This does not have to be the département where the owner lives.

Second hand cars: The new regulations apply to second hand cars from the 15th June 2009 will get these as well when la carte gris (registration document) is updated with a new address or owner.

Living in France and keeping your own country's registration

If you are moving to France from another EU country uyou can keep your old British, Irish, German registration plates, but you must display where relevant Contrôle Technique. However if you are caught by a speed camera, don't think your foreign plates will help you.According to Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau the British are the worst followed by the Germans. Drivers will be tracked down to their French home address or via the home country of the registration plate.

Remember, if you qare renting a car, buy your insurnce excess in advance and a year long policy is much better value using a company like insurance4carhire.com or Questor is usually much cheaper than going to a car hire company for it. More information at insurance4carrental.com

Car hire excess insurance sales are increasing - PRESS RELEASE

After acting as introducer for car hire excess insurance for the past five year, jml Insurance are celebrating that they have now found over 17,200 purchasers for the product.

jml insurance has been an introductory agent for insurance4car.hire since 2004. Over the past five years they have now introduced over 17,000 clients to the company from marketing the products on their insurance services websites like www.jml-insurance.co.uk and holiday homes vacation sites like www.jmlvillas.com .

According to Philip Suter of jml Property Services “the public are now very much aware that when the rent a car they usually have to pay additional insurance when they book or collect it.”

“We have discovered that Insurance4carhire.com daily policies are much cheaper than those offered by most car hire rental companies and what is more they include cover for such important items like windows, tyres and undercarriage.”

Philip went on to say” it does however make more sense to take out an annual policy as this much more cost effective”

Insurance4carhire.com is not the only car hire excess product introduced on the jml sites. Since September 2008 Questor insurance has also been added. The business of introductions is building well with some 250 introductions to date.

In February 2009, jml Insurance launched www.insurance4carrental.com that acts as an introducer in the same style with the Questor and insurance4carhire products.
trip policies.

Philip Suter of jml Insurance said” I have had an annual car hire excess policy from insurance4carhire.com since I first heard of them. I was caught having to pay a large excess for alleged damage to a car rental in the south of France in October 2000. Like many other renters I was charged a lot of money for “damage” from a low cost hire car company.”

Philip went on to say “ from my experience in renting cars, I have found that car hire company put a lot of pressure on individuals to buy their products that are usually more expensive. I have heard reports of car hire receptionists telling customers that the annual or daily policy that they have purchased will not be sufficient and they must buy their product.”

“On a recent visit to France as I had not purchased the car hire company’s own product and although I showed them documentation that I had additional cover, I had to pay by credit card €800 and would not get this back till after the car was returned. This appears to be very unfair if a client only has a small credit limit. Some car hire companies just swipe the card’s details and use them if required which is a much fairer option”


Company Information
jml Insurance.co.uk is part of jml Property Services, the trading name of Jeffrey Milner Ltd. The company is an UK based company that was established in 1979. jml insurance acts as an introducer for insurance companies selling property insurance including landlord and tenant rental products, pet insurance, wedding insurance, motor insurance, car hire excess insurance, travel insurance and non standard insurance products. They also operate jmlvillas.com an online marketing service for owners of holiday home property to advertise and are part of the jml Group that includes jml Training and Consultancy.

Daily Car Hire Excess Insurance – Getting A Good Deal

When hiring a car, you will need some form of insurance. That insurance may be included (in part) in the rental fee or you may have purchased it from the car rental company as a series of separate items. Whichever is the case, this insurance may not protect you from the full costs of an accident in the rented vehicle. You may also need something called Daily Car Hire Excess Insurance.

That’s because the car rental company’s insurance policy will almost certainly come with what is called ‘Excess’. The excess is an amount of money that the car rental company will expect you to pay towards the costs of any claim – even if you have their insurance in place. They may refer to this as the ‘first-part’ of any insurance claim and the amounts can be significant. Depending upon the country you’re renting in and the rental company concerned, the excess can be set anywhere between 500 and 1500 pounds or perhaps even a little higher.

The way it operates is simple if financially painful! If there is a 1000 pounds excess on the car hire company’s policy and you have an accident that results in a 1500 pounds claim, then the rental company will debit your credit card with 1000 pounds as the ‘first part’ of that claim. If the damage happened to result in a claim for only 400 pounds, then you would have to pay it all.
It’s worth remembering that excess charges following an accident with a rented vehicle can prove controversial. You may have little or no control over who assess any damage, who repairs it and at what cost.

Understandably, the excess and the financial risks it constitutes, may make many renters uneasy. There is though a way of protecting yourself against this – daily car hire excess insurance.

Through the rental company, you may be able to purchase additional insurance that will reduce or perhaps eliminate the excess altogether. They may call this ‘excess insurance’, ‘SUPER-CDW’ or more commonly ‘top-up insurance’. Whatever it’s called, it’s likely to be expensive and far more so that the same insurance purchased elsewhere.

If you look through the Internet, you’ll find direct insurance providers who also offer various forms of car rental insurance including daily car hire excess insurance. Their policies are usually very significantly cheaper than the same products sold by the car rental companies. It also works simply – you purchase the insurance for a specified number of days (they also offer policies on an annual basis) and the insurance company would then reimburse you for any excess payments the car rental company may charge you.

These companies offer daily car hire excess insurance policies that are not only cheaper but which also offer other advantages. As they are sold to a policyholder for a period of time, they will cover any vehicle rented during that period (subject to terms and conditions). This could offer major flexibility benefits. It may well be worth making the effort to check out these companies and their products in a little more detail.

Source insurance4carhire.com

INSURE4EXCESS.COM Launches New Policies at Competitive Rates

Been burnt by the recent credit crunch?

The recent downfall in the economy worldwide has left most people feeling the pinch, so the last
thing they want to think about is forking out loads of money on their insurance excess when they
have to make a claim and that’s exactly where insure4excess.com can help.

Insure4excess.com is part of insurance4carhire.com, an online insurance company established six years ago to provide products protecting consumers against high car rental excess charges.
For a low, annual premium, Insure4excess.com provides excess insurance and is about to launch a new policy available at amazing prices and perfect to protect customers from the dreaded excess costs.

LIFESTYLE EXCESS POLICY

The lifestyle excess policy covers the excess that is payable on the five main insurances for 12
months; Home, Motor, Health, Travel and Pet Insurance and can be purchased at any
time throughout the year to provide three different levels of excess cover.

The Bronze Level of excess costs £49 and covers up to £250, Silver level costs £75 and covers
up to £500, while the Gold Level costs £99 and covers up to £750. With each of the three levels
of excess cover there is a total excess limit on the policies, which varies depending on the cover
chosen.

For example, on the Gold Lifestyle product customers are able to claim on any of the five key
insurance excesses as many times as is necessary during the life of the policy and up to the excess limit of £750 for the Gold Policy.


A perfect example of how much consumers could save would be with the fictional character
Miss JennyJones. Jenny is a homeowner, sharing a flat with her cat Tony. She drives a Ford
Fiesta and would be able to claim up to £750 combined across her pet, home and car insurance
excess over an annual period should she have to make three individual claims – all by paying
just £99 for a 12 month period.

Travel insurance excess is normally about £60 so if Jenny were to purchase the gold product
(with a £750 limit) and had to claim off her travel insurance, insurance4excess.com would
reimburse Jenny with the £60 excess that she initially had to pay out. This would then leave
Jenny with £690 left for the year to claim. In addition if Jenny had to claim on her car insurance, the excess is usually £100 and she would again be reimbursed, this time leaving her
with £590 left for the year.

The excess is an aggregate amount over a year and customers can claim it back if it is triggered
on home, car, pet, travel and healthcare insurances. An unlimited number of claims can be made
by Jenny across the annual period -all for up to a maximum of £750 in one year.

Jenny can easily protect herself and her savings by signing up for a policy with nsure4excess.com today

Information supplied by insurance4excess.com

Excess Protection Gives a Financial Boost to All

20th May 2009 : Reports from the British Insurance Brokers Association that an increasing number of people are opting to raise their insurance excesses in a bid to reduce premiums is a prudent measure, providing they can recoup the extra excess costs when they make a claim, says Simon Vella from insure4excess.com

At its recent conference, BIBA unveiled research showing that 16% of brokers' clients have increased their motor and home excesses, saving hundreds of pounds in insurance premiums. However, BIBA is concerned those looking to save money could face a hefty bill in the future.

"Not if they have excess protection", says Vella. "Our low-cost Excess Protection policy reimburses claimants' payouts to insurers across a wide range of policies, so they no longer have to 'write off' substantial amounts in excess payments."

Insure4excess.com launched its policy, Excess Protection, earlier this year - it reimburses excess costs incurred on motor, home, travel, pet and private medical insurance (PMI). Policy underwriters estimate claimants liabilities are around £100 for home, travel and PMI, £180 for motor and £60 for pet, equating to around £540 per household.

Although not every household has these five policies, the odds on having to shell out on motor and home insurance excesses alone are compelling. According to the Association of British Insurers some 2.3million motor and 1.1million household claims were made in 2007. This equates to one in 10 motor policyholders and one in 16 households with contents cover*.
Vella continues: "The policy gives peace of mind to a growing number of consumers who are opting to increase their excesses to pay lower premiums. Our policy costs a fraction of the premium savings that can be made in a year and is far lower than one excess payment - making it a winner for those who don't have to claim and providing a much-needed financial boost for those who do."

An Excess Protection bronze policy is £45 and covers up to £250 worth of excesses, silver is £69 and reimburses up to £500 and gold is £89 and pays up to £750. An unlimited number of claims can be made on these policies, providing they do not exceed the excess limit.
Insure4excess pioneered car rental excess cover eight years ago, via its insurance4carhire brand and is part of the Towergate Partnership - the largest independently-owned insurance intermediary in Europe

How car hire rental companies try to discourage you from buying car hire excess insurance from other sources than their provider.

When I recently rented a car in Nice, France the car hire company Europcar wanted to see me car hire excess insurance.

This is one of the ways that a car hire rental operator can increase its revenue from the commission paid by an insurance company.

If you have used another provider like insurance4carhire or Questor (whose products are normally cheaper) you will often find that the car hire company representative might make a comment as happened to my son in Dublin that the policy would not cover the car properly, or have an amount debited to your credit card.

Europcar debited €800 to my card. This also occurred with my son in Dublin recently with Budget. This seems most unfair if say a renter is on holiday, they only have a small credit limit on their car of £2,000 and have an outstanding balance of £500. It would mean that with a deduction of say €800 and with Sterling still weak against the euro there won’t be much left on the card to cover accommodation, restaurants and other spending.

I have rented cars in France on several occasions from National Citier and they have a much fairer way of covering themselves. They do not instantly debit your credit card and have the benefit of your money helping their cash flow, but swipe the card so that they have information and authorisation if it is required. This means that if you have a low credit limit you can still go about your holiday without the fear of going over the limit and a) having the purchase rejected or b) being penalised by a credit card company.

Buying an annual policy from insurance4carhire.com or Questor is very good value (approx £44 / £49 per year for European cover). Research that has been carried out by insurance4carhire.com has found that their “Daily policies” - the one sold by the car hire rental companies, cost a lot less than those offered by the car hire rental companies.

Had I purchased a daily excess policy from insurance4carhire I would have paid £4.50 per day, with Europcar the cost would have been £10 per day and they would not have covered windows - tyres - undercarriage like the insurance4carhire one does

When my son was in Dublin had he bought a daily excess policy from insurance4carhire it would have cost him £4.50 per day. The cost of the Budget policy would have been £7.53 per day and like Europcar they would not cover windows - tyres - undercarriage. insurance4carhire have an interesting compariable car rental company excess charge site that can be found here.

Remember be prepared to have your credit card debited whilst you are renting and make sure they credit this amount back when you return the vehicle. Ensure that you have an operational amount of credit on your card and then you will profit from the great deals from providers like insurance4carhire and Questor. It also pays to take out annual policies.

The Importance Of Taking Out Car Rental Excess Insurance

If you have had ‘a bump’ in a rental car, you may not be too worried financially speaking. You may have purchased from the car rental company something called CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) that insured against damage to the rented car and therefore returned it without too much concern. It can therefore come as a nasty shock to subsequently see a large debit to your credit card from the rental company – and this can really happen unless you have car rental excess insurance.

So how can the insurance company charge you for the cost of an accident even though you had purchased insurance from them? This is explained by something called insurance excess. The excess is stipulated as a financial amount, usually between 500 and 1500 pounds that the insurance company will expect you to pay towards the cost of an accident.

They may call this the ‘first part’ of a claim because of how it works. If the policy carries a 750 pounds excess and you have an accident that causes 1000 pounds worth of damage, then you will have to pay the first 750 pounds of that 1000 as the ‘first part’ of the damage repair. If the damage was valued at 500 pounds, you would have to pay the full 500 pounds and the car rental company’s insurance would pay nothing.

This cost would usually be charged back directly to your credit card and it can prove controversial given that the renter usually has little control over who assesses the damage, who repairs it and at what cost.

Many people are understandably nervous about their excess and look for ways to reduce or eliminate it. There are usually two main ways of achieving that through something called car rental excess insurance.

The car rental company will be happy to sell you various forms of additional insurance, including this one. For an extra payment they will reduce the amount of excess payable, or in some cases, remove it entirely. Unfortunately you may find that their additional cover of this sort is expensive when compared to the other option.

There are direct insurance companies that sell car rental excess insurance through the Internet. These specialist suppliers are usually much cheaper than the car rental companies. Their policies operate by reimbursing you for any excess charge that the car rental company debit to your card.

As this type of policy also applies to you the renter rather than a specific car rental agreement, they also have the advantage of being purchasable for a period of days or even a year. What this means is that any vehicle rented by you during that period, providing the terms and conditions were met, would be automatically covered. This offers considerable benefit not only in terms of being able to purchase cheaper car rental excess insurance but also in terms of flexibility as no longer would you need to debate insurance options every time you arrived to collect your rented car.

The importance of taking out car rental excess insurance should never be underestimated and is something that should be considered by anyone who rents a car.

Once again we are very grateful to insurance4carhire.com for this most useful information

Car Rental Insurance to Consider

Car rental insurance is a subject you should take seriously. Many people have an inclination to spend a lot of time looking for the model they want to hire and what extras to include but then move quickly over insurance without paying it too much attention.

If you give into that temptation because insurance as a subject is boring, then you could be in line for some grief!

That’s because at the outset it is important to understand that if you have an accident in a hire car and the circumstances are not covered or not fully covered by insurance, then it will be you that is legally liable. You could be paying out some very large sums of money indeed should that happen.

Many renters think this is impossible because their car rental deal said “insurance included” or they purchased insurance from the car rental company. Unfortunately such insurance is limited and usually contains numerous exclusions.

It may offer cover for third party risks (damage to another person or their property) but in many countries the maximum amount payable may be capped at too low a level given the huge awards a court can make following an accident.

The rental company’s car rental insurance may also provide what’s called CDW (collision damage waiver) to cover against damage to the rented vehicle. Their basic cover though will usually exclude areas of the vehicle such as the tyres, wheels, undercarriage, roof and windows – all areas easily and expensively damaged.

Finally, their policy will almost certainly carry excess. The excess is a financial amount that the car rental company will expect you to pay towards the cost of an accident and it is typically set between 500 and 1500 pounds.

All told, you may find that you still have significant financial risk and exposure arising from your use of a rented car even when you have insurance in place.

There is a solution. You can purchase additional or ‘top-up’ insurance from the rental company. This may reduce excess, increase the amount of liability protection and cover areas of the vehicle normally excluded from damage provisions. The trouble is, this insurance is expensive when purchased from a rental company.

The direct insurance companies selling through the Internet usually provide a cheaper option for car rental insurance. They offer a range of products aimed at things such as car rental excess and liability cover etc. Their insurance is structured so that it is purchased for a number of days (or a year) and it will cover any vehicle rented by you during that period – subject to terms and conditions.

This could not only save you a lot of money but it could also save time as you would not longer have to worry about this every time you rented a car. This could be very useful for any renter but particularly those that are planning to rent several times in a period. It may be worthwhile finding out more on this subject and their products and services can be checked out easily via the net.

We are very grateful to insurance4carhire.com for this most useful information.