As a
consumer you need be truly satisfied with your car hire experience. This
typically involves making sure that you’ve found the right vehicle for your
needs and of course at a good price. Making sure that the car you have selected
also includes the right sort of insurance is also be imperative to ensure that
you avoid a potential large outlay following an accident.
So how could such a
situation arise given that you think you have sufficient insurance?
The problem could
occur because of the way some car hire rentals are described as ‘including
insurance in the price’ when they’re advertised. That is perfectly correct as a
statement but it may lull you into a full sense of security because in reality
you may not be ‘fully covered’ – and there is a difference.
The insurance for the
vehicle that is provided by the car hire company typically provides a degree of
protection in the shape of:
- third party cover that aims
to meet the costs of any awards against you for damage you have caused to
a third party – either to their person or their property;
- CDW (collision damage
waiver) – which will offer financial cover for the costs of any damage
done to the hire care while under contract to you (or its theft).
Although this sounds
fine, the car rental company’s policies may contain two potentially very
important points of note:
- typically they will carry an
excess of anywhere between £500-£1600 plus
- they may also exclude a
number of significant areas of the vehicle from cover and that means you’ll
have to pay for any damage to them – typically including the wheels;
tyres, roof, undercarriage and windows.
So, following an
accident, the car rental company may place some charges against your credit
card even if you have their insurance as well.
The good news is that
it is possible to reduce the risks of finding such costs facing you after an
accident.
This can be done
typically through one of two routes.
The first is to purchase ‘top-up’ or ‘Super-CDW’ insurance
from the car hire company – they will typically offer this to you as part of
the car booking and perhaps again when you pick the car up. For an extra cost,
this insurance may remove or at least reduce the excess and possibly also
provide cover for the ‘exclusions’.
The second route is to purchase what’s called ‘excess
insurance’ from an online provider of insurance for hire cars. These
specialists offer policies that will allow you to claim back from them any
excess or costs you’ve had to pay to the rental company. They can be
cheaper than the similar protection offered by the rental companies themselves.
You can out more information on the
excess insurance for hire cars and how you could potentially save money by
visiting the specialist provider website like the following examples of these insurance companies include: Essential Travel, iCarhireinsurance, Carehireexcess, Worlwideinsure, Insurance4carhire, Questor Insurance and Protectyourbubble
Such policies may also have the advantage of being
available on an annual basis meaning they would cover any car hired by you
during the period. Some companies also offer Family policies as well as cover
for Motorhome and Campervan hire excess, Van hire excess, Minibus hire excess
and Car club hire excess insurance.
