All About Car Hire Insurance
Many people believe that the only option they have for hire car insurance is to take out the policy when they hire the car.
Is there a better way? It’s the question that perhaps springs to mind!
Happily the answer to that may generally be: yes, there is.
It is possible to make all of your car hire insurance arrangements in advance so that when you arrive at the rental desk all you need to do is pick up the keys and off you go.
Excess charges
The problem with the car hire protection provided by the car hire companies is that typically it still leaves you open to paying an excess if the car is involved in an accident that results in damage.
This excess is what you have to pay towards a successful claim.
The excess charged by some car hire companies may be as much as £1600.
You may also have to add to this, the fact that many collision damage waiver policies (which provide cover for damage to the car) actually exclude certain parts of the car from cover.
This means that if these parts, typically;
l the tyres,
l glass;
l under-body areas;
are damaged, then you would be responsible for any repair costs.
This is typically in addition to the excess if other areas of the car were damaged as well.
The final result may be that you end up seriously out of pocket.
Excess insurance
The protection that the car hire company will typically try to sell you when you pick up the keys is excess car hire insurance. This means that you may not have to pay any excess, or very little.
If you are trying to deal with this with a queue of people behind you tapping their feet, you might usually not take the time to read through the terms and conditions. If so you may not know what protection you have and do not have.
If you buy your own car hire excess protection independently of the car hire companies then you may find that not only do you have time to check over the policy features in detail (as your policy will subject to policy limitations, exclusions within the terms and conditions).
but also;
l your cover may be more cost effective than that of the car hire company;
l it might cover you and a number of other named drivers at no extra cost;
l the excess and the exclusions will be covered.
How it works
With excess insurance cover from an independent protection provider, you may find that if you’re involved in an incident and the car is damaged, the hire company will typically debit your credit card with the excess costs.
You then make a claim on your policy for car hire insurance and typically the costs are paid back.
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