A press release from iCarhireinsurance.com, the leading provider of standalone excess insurance provider has just been issued today.
GBP £434M spent in 2012 on excess policies by UK Hire Car Drivers - GBP £345M could have been saved on insurance if it was bought in advance!
In 2012 an estimated GBP £434 million was spent on rental desk excess cover by UK drivers of rental vehicles at home and abroad, but new YouGov research from iCarhireinsurance.com, the leading provider of standalone excess insurance, has found that drivers could have saved GBP £345 million in total if they had bought it online from an independent provider before picking up the car.
Rental desks charge on average almost five times more than online providers for excess insurance, but the worst offenders can charge more than eight times, a truly eye-watering amount. e.g., Excess cover from Avis for a week in Corfu in June costs GBP £204.64 (GBP £25.58 a day) for a standard family car, that's GBP £180 more than buying a stand-alone policy through independent UK websites such as iCarhireinsurance.com before pick-up.
The YouGov research found that 33% of the UK adult population hired a vehicle in 2012, On average these people hired vehicles for 6.25 days in 2012 at an average daily cost of GBP £14.62 per day and almost a third of these (29%) have purchased excess insurance. It is therefore estimated that, assuming everyone bought their excess insurance from the hire desk, GBP £434m was spent by UK travellers in 2012 to protect themselves against high excess charges of up to GBP £2,000 a time for accidental damage and theft.
An iCarhireinsurance.com daily excess policy costs GBP £2.99 a day, so drivers paid GBP 141 million (or GBP £11.63 per rental day) more than they had to. Customers taking a two week rental or planning additional trips later in the year could have been even better off by purchasing an annual policy at only GBP £39.99. iCarhireinsurance.com's products are also more comprehensive than those sold at car rental desks.
Ernesto Suarez, founder and CEO of iCarhireinsurance.com said, "The amount of money that can be saved just by sorting out your excess in advance is incredible. Not only are our policies a fifth of the average price of those offered by the rental companies, they also cover the most vulnerable parts of the vehicle, which are usually excluded from the rental companies' policies."
For full details of iCarhireinsurance.com Car Hire Excess Insurance - Van Hire Excess Insurance - Car Club Insurance visit: http://affiliate.haloinsurance.com/idevaffiliate.php?id=107
SOURCE: iCarhireinsurance.com 25-7-13
A press release from iCarhireinsurance.com yesterday said that Car hire companies are not giving accurate descriptions of existing damage on
hire cars, according to a new YouGov survey, commissioned by
iCarhireinsurance.com, a leading provider of stand-alone excess car hire
insurance.
Over one in five people (21%) said that they had found damage on their hire
car which was not highlighted on the collection check-out sheet.
Any damage incurred to a hire car, even if the car is stolen or scratched in
a car park, can lead to the hirer having to pay the first part of an insurance
claim i.e. the excess amount which can be as much as GBP 2000 (e.g. if hiring a
VW Golf with Hertz in Faro this summer).
"Check over a hire car as thoroughly as if you were buying it," said Ernesto
Suarez, founder and CEO of iCarhireinsurance.com. "We're seeing travellers
getting charged for minor damage which they're pretty sure they didn't cause but
which weren't identified on the check-out sheet when they collected the
vehicle."
A holiday-maker going to Faro in Portugal this summer could be paying up to GBP £16 a day
(or GBP £25 a day to include tyre and windscreen excess as well) for a car hire
excess insurance waiver bought from the rental desk, compared with an
iCarhireinsurance.com excess policy from GBP £2.99 a day - over five times
cheaper. iCarhireinsurance.com policies also cover vulnerable parts of the
vehicle, including windows, tyres, windscreen and the undercarriage, which the
rental companies usually exclude.
Car Hire Check List
Check your vehicle carefully before you drive away and make sure damage
is recorded on the rental agreement.
Always buy excess insurance in advance and not from the car hire
company. This could save you up to 80% and is likely to provide you with
better protection as it includes re-imbursement for damage to areas like
wheels and tyres which are usually excluded from rental companies' own
excess waivers.
Read the small print to know the terms and conditions of the hire
policy. Some companies now operate a return fuel-empty policy for
instance.
Return the car in acceptable state as some companies are starting to
charge a cleaning charge.
Returning the Car: Allow time for the vehicle to be inspected by a
rental company employee.
SOURCE: iCarhireinsurance.com Find out more about iCarhireinsurance by visiting their website HERE
Travolution reported a couple of days ago that Holiday Autos’ new owner CarTrawler is being geared up for a potential sale that could value the business at more than £150 million.
Sky News reported that ECI Partners, the investment firm which owns a controlling stake in the Dublin-based provider of online car rental distribution systems, is lining up investment bankers to advise on an auction.
However, it is possible that ECI, which declined to comment on the story, will decide against a sale if its valuation expectations are not met by prospective buyers.
CarTrawler announced the acquisition of the online assets of Holiday Autos last month, buying them from Travelocity Global, the immediate parent company of Lastminute.com. The trade business and operations of Holiday Autos were not included in the deal. We will now have to see what happens next. Source Travolution July 3-2013
To see the Travolution report follow this link
To find out more about Holiday Autos the company the Dublin based company has recently bought follow this link
4th July 2014 - Another press release from Questor Insurance out today. Here are the details.
Vehicle hire excess and travel insurance specialist Questor Insurance highlights figures which show that drivers hiring a car on holiday could be hit with more than £500 in car hire extras.
An investigation carried out by the MailOnline revealed that add-on fees could see the cost of a two-week rental double, putting a substantial dent in holidaymakers’ budgets.
A family with young children could face having to stump up hundreds of pounds in fees to include features such as a child seat or add an extra driver as part of their car rental.
Calculating the total cost of a child booster seat, a child car seat, an extra driver, extra insurance and a sat nav for a two-week hire of a Ford Focus , or similar model, in Alicante from July 27th the Mail Online’s investigation showed that drivers could see their car hire bill spiral by between £508 and £593.
The investigation also pointed to the fact that car hire excess insurance bought directly from rental companies can also add an extra £130 to £275 to the cost of the above trip.
With these figures in mind, Questor Insurance offers some top tips for saving on your car hire costs.
Buy car hire excess insurance in advance: Buying car hire excess insurance in advance will mean that your excess costs will be covered to a pre-specified limit. Car hire excess insurance will also normally include excess costs for your car’s tyres, windscreen and under body as standard.
Bring your own: If you have a sat nav or car seat at home , bringing these along on your trip could make you instant savings.
Fuel: Be aware that car hire companies may charge you for any fuel you have remaining in your tank, so it is important to use the whole tank before returning your vehicle.
Inspect your car: Before you sign your rental agreement ensure that you look for any visible signs of damage to your vehicle, so that your car hire company can’t penalise you for these.
Commenting, Questor Insurance CEO Andrew Lawrence, said: “Drivers should read the terms of their rental agreement carefully to ensure that they are not stung by any additional or hidden car hire costs.
“There are a number of steps drivers can take to avoid these charges, including finding the best deal on their car hire excess insurance before they set off.”
Buy your car hire excess insurance at Questor today.Find out more about Questor Insurance Products - Car hire excess insurance - Motorhome hire excess insurance - Van hire excess insurance - Minibus hire excess insurance - excess insurance Travel insurance Here
Questor Insurance’s ‘Be Holiday Savvy’ campaign is running from June to September and will provide travellers with a wealth of handy hints and tips to make the process of planning and executing their foreign holiday that much smoother.
Sources
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/holidays/article-2348296/Holiday-car-hire-cons-add-500-bill.html and Questor Insurance PR
