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Monday 21 July 2014

Car hire excess insurance featured in The Independent's Bargain Hunter column

I spotted this article in Simon Reed's "Bargain Hunter" column on Saturday 19th July in The Independent. "Get off the road to car-hire excess by buying cut-price annual cover"

Featuring iCarhireinsurance it said "You can avoid getting stung with expensive excess insurance on holiday this year by buying an annual policy.

And if you buy now, you can get it at a reduced rate. Icarhireinsurance has cut the price of its annual cover to £35.99 from £39.99 in its summer sale.

The policy start date can be set for any time in the next six months, so even if you're not going soon, you can buy now to make the most of the saving."   Go to iCarhireinsurance website Here 

See full article Here

Since the start of 2014 I have emailed the column on at least three occasions - this one from May 14 "As a regular reader of your column in “Your Money” in Saturday’s Independent, this will be of interest to your readers. 

I have emailed a few times this year, but you not mentioned car hire excess waiver insurance as far as I can recollect and it is often mentioned in travel columns at this time of year. 

With the May half term holidays just around the corner your readers can save 10% on their car hire excess insurance with Questor Insurance services in association with insurance4carrental.com  

Questor insurance are offering a 10% discount to anyone purchasing their car hire excess insurance. It must be purchased before the 31st December 2014 and via this link http://www.insurance4carrental.com/questor.htm#Discount
 
Buying car hire excess waiver insurance from an independent company like Questor is a much better deal than buying it from the car hire company.
 





Saturday 12 July 2014

Almost one-in-two holidaymakers think car-hire excess insurance polices are too high

The Daily Mail reported on the 9th July that according to a new survey, from research that was conducted by YouGov on behalf of iCarhireinsurance  almost a third of tourists (31 per cent) feel pressurised during their transactions with car-hire companies, and feel that they are being deliberately scared into buying excess waiver insurance by unscrupulous representatives.

The survey "uncovered widespread nervousness about excess insurance – the add-on policies that protect consumers against high charges if a car is lost, damaged or stolen

The amount in question varies from transaction to transaction, but can easily be up to £1,500, depending on the make of vehicle.

Excess sums can be stored on customers’ credit cards if they decide against taking out excess waiver policies – another cause of concern for holidaymakers.

Figures show that excess deposits in Europe have gone up by 22 per cent in the last year – while the price of excess waivers has increased by some 26 per cent.

Almost half of those surveyed – 45 per cent – said that they think the cost of excess policies is ‘a rip-off’."‘It’s a scandal that sky-high deposits are being used as a stick to beat with when people are trying to budget for a break,’ says Ernesto Suarez of iCarhireinsurance." Read the The Daily Mail's article Here

Find out more about iCarhireinsurance and its excess insurance waiver excess policies for car hire, van hire and car club hire here

Sunday 6 July 2014

Car rental varies by hundreds of pounds at top holiday destinations

According to last Wednesday's Daily Telegraph, Car rental varies by hundreds of pounds at top holiday destinations with Portugal most expensive and Florida the least. In a seasonal holiday time article by Kate Palmer, Flying to the US costs more than to Europe, but holidaymakers at least can save hundreds on car hire once in the States .

The Scottish schools and many private schools have well and truly broken up for the summer holidays, however others schools in England and Wales will not be finishing until around the 19th July.

So after that day there will be a lot of people on holiday and many might have arranged their holiday in plenty of time, but not considered extras that are needed like car hire excess insurance.

The article goes onto say - "The biggest cost: excess waiver insurance at the rental desk, with drivers paying an average of £100 per week across the destinations.

This insurance means that if the driver damages the vehicle they won't have to pay the "excess", or the first part of the claim - which could be as much as £700.

Specialist insurers, such as the AA, iCarhireinsurance or insurance4carhire, have moved into the market offering cheaper, standalone cover. So instead of paying for the car hire firm's own excess waiver insurance - which could be £15 or £20 per day - these other insurers provide cover for a fractioin of the price. If you damage the vehicle you have to pay the excess to the car hire firm, and you then make a claim to the standalone provider" Source Daily Telegraph.

According to iCarhireinsurance's  survey in The Daily Telegraph
The car hire costs below included a week’s rental with four added extras (excess waiver insurance, satnav, a second driver and a child's seat), as well as the price of a tank of petrol (40 litres).

Country Pickup location Average rental cost
Portugal Faro Airport £965
Italy Milan Airport £720
Spain Malaga Airport £676
France Nice Airport £667
UK Heathrow Airport £660
Ireland Dublin Airport £651
Spain Barcelona Airport £643
Greece Crete £602
Belgium Brussels Airport £554
Germany Munich Airport £540
Holland Amsterdam Airport £532
Turkey Dalaman Airport £472
US Orlando Airport, Florida £289