iCarhireinsurance ski research mentioned in Mail on Sunday yesterday

The Mail On Sunday "This is Money" column ran a story yesterday- "Steer clear of 'winterisation' car hire traps: Last-minute extras including crucial snow chains can double your costs By Sally Hamilton"

According to the report, last month, when she set off for a few days of relaxation in the French ski resort of Tignes with my husband I felt that same recurring sinking feeling as I approached the car hire desk at Geneva airport.

She had booked car hire  in advance so they could drive to Tignes and I did this a few years ago, but left the airport on the French side in a French registered hire car.

Tignes

The car hire people at the rental desk tried selling on the usual "extras" Waiver excess insurance (she already had this), Sat Nav and snow tyres were declined but she ended up agreeing to pay €38 for snow chains.

She then got caught out on the route from the airport. Apparently to leave on the Swiss side, the journey to Tignes is about an hour shorter, so had to enter Switzerland and then you have to buy a Swiss Motorway pass called a vignette  costing 40 Swiss Francs (£27). 

Had she hired a car on the Swiss side, they come with one of these, but the article did not say whether the price of renting a car on the other side is higher.

It is somewhat frustrating from personal experience, as on my trip we left on the French side, but misread the return and ended up crossing the border and having to pay for a vignette. I removed it from the car thinking someone might want it between April and the year end, but it was never used again.

iCarhireinsurance research was quoted about the fact that  found that, depending on which hire firm they picked, drivers could be encouraged to pay as much as £185 for excess insurance, £42 for tyre and windscreen insurance not covered by car hire excess insurance, £84 for an extra driver, £102 for a sat-nav, £75 for snow chains and £102 for a child’s car seat.

The excess a customer faces if the hire car is damaged or stolen has risen by a quarter on average in the past year to £1,078, while the insurance offered to cover this excess has also leaped by 16 per cent on average to £104 for a week.

The insurer also found that ‘winterisation’ charges, which include the price of winter tyres and/or snow chains and are normally only paid for at the desk, vary widely. You can view this in much more detail  on this blog from the 4th February 14 here

Source - This is Money 15-2-14  and iCarhireinsurance