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Monday 8 July 2019

Renting a car abroad? Plan ahead and keep costs down says RTÉ article

RTÉ the Irish state broadcaster ran an article on their website news over the 6-7 July 19 weekend - Renting a car abroad? Plan ahead and keep costs down - It is summer holiday time again and like a fair amount of the media at this time of year they are reminding consumers of problems when they hire a car.

Some of the basic reminders we have talked about on this blog and on the insurance4carrental.com website for some years now - Paying for fuel "Always opt for the 'full to full' policy", Returning the car "Always aim to return the car during business hours so that a rental agent can inspect it. Make sure to get a copy of the paperwork confirming that the vehicle was returned in a satisfactory condition." and...

How insured do you need to be?  "Collision damage waiver insurance is the main hard sell. The European Consumer Centre (ECC) in Ireland says the car rental sector continues to be one of the top areas of complaints lodged here every year and a sizeable quantity of those relate to insurance products .Excess insurance at the rental desk will generally cost in excess of €20 per day - adding €140 to your car rental bill for a week" So it is much better value to buy it in advance from an independent insurance specialist. In Ireland you have a great  choice - carhireexcess.com part of Blue Insurance who also offer Travel insurance                 

There is also Questor Insurance and Worldwide insure Details can be found here

The full RTÉ article can be found here

Monday 18 February 2019

No Deal Brexit could see car hire prices rising in Ireland

With all the Brexit uncertainty in particular if there is a No Deal by the time the UK leaves the EU on the 29th March 2019 on area of concern are increased car hire costs in Ireland.


There are concerns in the insurance and travel industry about "Green Cards" for drivers taking their vehicles in and out of the UX and this includes Northern Ireland. I remember was back in the late 60s / early 70s before the UK joined what was the EEC - Common Market. I had to contact my insurance company for "insurance cover" to take my car to France and other continental European countries. A document printed on green paper was sent out by the insurance company.


I remember earlier family holidays with my late father getting these documents and it was very common, however in the 1960s and even early 1970s there was not the volume of vehicles crossing the channel as there is in 2019.  


In Ireland many of these Green Card documents have been printed and templates sent to individual insurance companies. If the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal then anyone and this includes the thousands and thousands of trucks and other commercial visitors entering the UK will need a Green Card plus the UK registered vehicles going to mainland Europe and Republic of Ireland.


If you need to add an additional driver to your vehicle and contact your insurance company, in most cases your insurance company will make an administration charge for this. So if that insurance company is going to have to issue a Green Card then it is more than likely they will have to make an admin charge. With regards to commercial vehicle operators this charge is going to be passed onto the consumer most likely.


If an insurance company says they will absorb these admin charges, I reckon that when the annual vehicle insurance is up for renewal the premium will rise.


Getting back to the heading in this article, as Northern Ireland is part of the UK then owners of vehicles wanting to cross the border (however soft or hard) from the Republic into Northern Ireland or vica versa will need the appropriate insurance cover.


Someone who works in Northern Ireland, but lives in another county of Northern Ireland County Donegal for example which is in the Republic will need Green Card cover. The driver might cross the border a couple of times on his / her  route to and from work.


At the moment when you hire a car in the Republic or Northern Ireland and want to take it over the border you will find that some car hire companies make an additional charge - often to do with breakdown rescue charges. (AA breakdown for an UK registered car travelling in the Republic could come under  AA Europe via Calais in France for example).


Other car hire companies allow their vehicles to cross the border with no additional cost for the hirer. However look at the Green Card situation. If the hire car rental company has to have these and somewhere along the line they have to pay either in an administration charge to their insurance company or by higher premiums, they will have to pass on these costs and of course we know who will pay.....the person hiring the car.


  

Monday 14 January 2019

How car rental firms gouge customers for minor damages

How car rental firms gouge customers for minor damages That was the headline in an article in "The Irish Independent" on Saturday January 12 - 19.
The article by Amy Molloy was highlighting the problems of some customers of car hire companies in Ireland. The paper had reported on this subject previously, however no names of offending car hire companies were quoted. It was purely customers who had been charged amounts like €700 for scuff marks and another €1,205 for a dent in a drivers door.

The article went on to highlight how quite often multiple customers are charged for the same damage on a vehicle.

Paul Redmond, the chief executive of the Car Rental Council of Ireland said "customers were advised to inspect the car and agree details of any other defects".   

At the insurance4carrental website for years we have had advise on line for hiring a vehicle - Visit the page here

Today nearly everyone hiring a vehicle will have a mobile phone with a camera. Even if it is a dark wet night spend a couple of minutes checking that vehicle and take photos of any signs of damage before you drive away. If a member of staff is about have your comments noted on the hire agreement.

Thursday 10 January 2019

insurance4carhire products now being marketed at jml Insurance websites once again

jml insurance / insurance4carrental are delighted to announce that once again insurance4carhire car hire excess waiver insurance products are being promoted on their sites.

Back in 2004 jml Property Services started to promote insurance4carhire car hire excess products becoming an early affiliate of founder Larry Ursich. Up until October 2017 over £190,827 income was generated for the company behind insurance4carhire.

Then in 2017 new underwriters were appointed and the affiliate system ended for jml Property Services.

In early December 2018 a letter was received advising that jml Property Services had worked with them in the past (some 13 years in fact) and invited them to apply under the affiliate agency they now used.

Just before Christmas insurance4carhire banners and links went back to the insurance4carrental site and feeder links at jml-insurance.co.uk, euro-rentals.com and cotedazurrental.com.

To find out more go to http://www.insurance4carrental.com/insurance4carhire.htm