The ‘Winterisation’ Charge for your Hire Car

I visited the icahireinsurance blog a short while ago and found a very interesting piece written by Ernie about going skiing. 

No it was not warning you to take great care when you are on or off the slopes, but before you actually got to the ski resort.

The blog went on to say " If you are taking advantage of the near-perfect skiing conditions in Europe, be aware that if you are hiring a car you will probably come up against a 'winterisation' charge (or ...another opportunity to fleece you out of your hard-earned cash).



Despite hire companies knowing that winter comes each year this is an opportunity for them to levy an additional charge for the winter tyres and snow chains that your hire car will need by law in many European countries.

Many people are surprised when they arrive at the car rental desk to pick up their car to be told that they have to pay an additional fee for the hire car's anti-freeze, tyres and chains so if you're not sure check your booking T&Cs. The charge is usually about 5 euros a day.One way you can save money is to make sure you buy your car hire excess insurance in advance and save up to 70% when compared with buying it at the car rental desk. Excess Europe retails for £39.99 for an annual policy or £2.99/day for Single Trips."

Find out more about icarhire insurance Here

At the insurance4carrental.com site we have a list of Driving Guides for numerous countries. Information has been compiled from our partners in the travel, car hire and insurance business and whenever we have the winter tryre in snow image, information on regulation is provided.  For example in Bulgaria "Snow chains should be carried in the car in the winter from 1st November to 31st March. The road signs will indicate when snow chains are compulsory or not. The use of snow tyres is not legally required"  Find out more about the driving guides Here 

In the meantime if you are renting a car in a country like England, that hopefully has just had it's snow fall for the winter, remember driving conditions can still be icy and if you are not used to a car because it is not your own personal one, but a "hire car" take even more care.