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Thursday 14 March 2013

The Observer says Beware hidden extras that drive up car hire costs

Last Sunday's Observer had an article by Lisa Batchelor on car hire. The photo in the article is taken in Nice, France close to the airport and by coincidence I rented a car there for four days last weekend.

The car hire company was very helpful, however when I said I did not require additional excess waiver insurance, the representative started to say that if it had been the insurance I had bought from the car hire company in England it would not be sufficient and I should buy his!! 

After saying that I had an annual policy that covered wheels undercarriage etc, he left the subject and didn't even charge the 23 euros for the additional driver.

One issue I was concerned about was the fuel policy, this company had got hold of the idea used by some Spanish, Portuguese and Cypriot car hire companies - Pay for a full tank of fuel and bring back empty. 

You pay their price and if you don't use the fuel too bad no refund. The company I used only had this policy for rentals of more than four days. The car was in fact half full and this was noted on the paperwork, however it is tricky to refill to half. Just like it is tricky to drive around back to the car hire depot on empty!

Fortunately the majority of car hire companies at Nice, do not have this policy.

Going back to The Observer article they used research from icarhireinsurance a major force in car hire excess waiver insurance. According to research for The Observer, adding an extra driver, particularly one under 25, a car seat, a satnav and excess car hire insurance at the rental desk all bring extra cost – in some cases more than the price of the actual hire.

The article is very interesting and can be found in full Here   

It concludes saying Companies including insurance4carhire and icarhireinsurance have annual and daily policies that you buy before you go, and can cost as little as £3 a day.

Find out more about insurance4carhire Here and icarhireinsurance Here
Incidently the car I had rented from Nice airport did not come equipped with an In-car alcohol tester / alcohol breathalyser - See Breathalyzer kits / éthylotest in motor vehicles in France, the saga continues 17 October 2012


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