Foreign Autos

Taking out insurance for a rental car may not be too difficult

 

That’s because in many countries, the rental companies include the basic insurance policy protections in their rental price. Generally a policy may inlcude:

 

• third-party liability to shield you against claims from other people;
• CDW (collision damage waiver) to cover the costs of any damage to the rental car.

 

However bear in mind, that isn’t universally the case and in some countries such as the USA you may have to make arrangements to purchase virtually all of the insurance yourself.

 

However you may wish to bear in mind that rental car insurance is not full coverage as you may think.

 

Why not?

 

Typically the included-in-the-price policy brings with it:

 

• high costs for the excess on the policy if you make a claim;
• exclusions that mean some areas of the vehicle aren’t covered – and again it’ll be your card very possibly feeling the strain if they’re damaged and in need of repair or replacement.

 

So, if those financial risks make you feel a bit edgy, you need to find a solution.

 

There are online providers of specialised car rental cover and one of their products is called car rental excess insurance.

 

With this policy behind you you are able to recoup the costs assocated with the excess you have to pay out.

 

You may also be able to buy cover from the rental company to remove the excess and exclusions though you may find that the prices of the online providers are considerably more cost-effective than those of the rental companies.

 

Terms and conditions will apply and within these, there will be exclusions and limitations, so you should read these carefully and ensure you understand them.

 

So, insurance cover for a rental car may require a little topping-up if you’re to be able to feel entirely relaxed while you’re driving it. That protection may take a little effort to find but it won’t be too hard – and it may be very worthwhile!

 

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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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Excess car hire insurance is a type of policy that motorists who have rented a vehicle can use to improve their insurance protection.

If you have never studied the summary of a car hire insurance agreement, you may wonder why such a policy is necessary.

Excess may work out to be very costly as some providers ask for upwards of £1,000 and you of course have to pay for this, unless you have insurance to cover the excess.

Without excess car hire insurance, the motorist must usually pay for any damage costing less than the main car hire policy’s excess figure. This typically means that if you have an excess of £1,500 on your policy this is the amount you have to find. If the incident was more serious and caused greater damage, the motorist must pay for the first £1,500 of the bill, and the insurer would pick up the remainder.

Of course the above amount of excess is a great deal to find out of your own pocket. However, high excesses are the industry standard on hire car agreements, given that there is a perceived risk that people are more likely to have accidents in hire cars than their own vehicles.

Excess car hire insurance typically works by putting the insurance company in the motorist’s place in the equation. So where the motorist has to pay anything up to the excess from his own pocket, the excess insurer steps in and covers the amount instead.

The terms and conditions of the excess insurance policy may be similar to your main car rental insurance. However always check the small print. Accordingly, you should make sure that the excess policy includes all of the elements that the main policy covers from the point of view of named drivers and the geographical area in which the policy operates.

What other features may be included in an excess policy?

Before we look at this, you should note that policy features and benefits will vary among providers, so the following information should be used as a guide only.

 

• Added extras

Excess car hire protection can be used to improve your position on other elements of cover too. For example, your main hire insurance agreement generally may exclude cover for the windscreen, tyres and the under body of the vehicle. If you want protection for such as these then you are often able to have them included for a little extra.

 

• Level of service

When you are searching for an excess policy, consider the same issues as you would any other insurance cover. Clearly the price of the cover is important, but consider also the level of service the provider offers, and how much offline help is available to you in the event of a claim.

 

• Flexibility

If flexibility of cover is essential to you, look at a provider that can offer a daily or weekly rate. This may work out better if you are not sure how long you need to rent a car or if you only need the rental car on a short term base. For a travel car, ask the excess car hire insurance provider if you may extend the number of countries to which the policy applies on short notice. So if you want to extend your driving holiday, you could just telephone your insurer and let them know that you are crossing a border.

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