Car Hire Excess Insurance
When hiring a car abroad (and at home in the UK) if you where to be involved in accident or return the vehicle with damage, you will be liable to paying a large sum if money as an excess charge on the hire companies insurance.
Car Hire Excess Insurance pays for this excess if your hire car is damaged or stolen. It is particularly useful when hiring a car abroad.
When booking a hire car before you travel, you choose the size and fuel option that you would like, but often don’t take the extras such as excess insurance cover due to the cost.
In the short term this is a saving. However, should you be unfortunate and have an excess charge to pay because of an accident or if the vehicle was to be stolen, this cost could be significantly more than the cost of your entire holiday.
When you collect your hire car the receptionist will offer you car hire excess cover (also known as excess waiver, or collision damage waiver), as a last minute pressure sell this will be extremely expensive, often more than the cost of hiring the car.
What is car hire excess insurance?
An excess if the first part of an insurance claim that the policyholder pays. When you hire a car, the excess is usually a lot more than the excess on your normal car insurance policy.
Car hire excess insurance is a policy which covers the cost of the excess should your hire car be damaged or stolen.
You pay a relatively small amount of monty to protect yourself against the possibility of what could be a large bill. Meaning that you can enjoy using your hire car and holiday with our fear off something happening to your hire car.
How does car rental excess insurance work?
Usually, if your rental car is damaged or stolen, and you have bought standalone excess insurance, the car hire company will debit the excess from the card you used to make the purchase. This is usually a credit card that they have already blocked the required amount.
You need to gather documentation and receipts relating to the damage and pass them to your car hire excess insurance company. They will then be able to started processing your claim and reimburse you.
It is good practice to take photos of the car when you pick it up and when you take it back, just in case there is a dispute about damage to it. This can be done when the agent is showing you around the vehicle.
What types of excess insurance can I buy?
Single-trip cover
If you are only hiring a car for a short period or one specific trip, then a single standalone policy would be appropriate.
You would need to take out a new policy each time you hire a car, and the pricing will be based on the number of days you intend to hire the car for.
Annual cover
If you travel multiple times within a year, and hire a car on each of these trips, annual cover will other you the most economic policy.
An annual policy is probably the most convenient (you won’t need to keep purchasing a new policy each hire period) and best value for money.
With an annual policy you can take multiple trips within a 12 month period. These trips must not exceed the maximum trip length stipulated in the insurers terms and conditions.
You simply pay once and be covered for a year.
European or Worldwide annual cover?
If you only intend to travel within Europe, you will only need to purchase European cover. Different insurance providers have slight variants to the definition ‘Europe’, so ensure that the provider you select covers the countries you intend to visit.
Worldwide cover is as it says, worldwide. However there may be exception where certain countries are not covered. An example of these been countries that the UK government have advised people not to travel to. Check and review policy documentation to see which countries are included.
Things to watch out for
Before buying a policy make sure that you read through the terms and conditions to ensure the cover meets your requirements. It is sensible to check the following:
- Whether the policy covers any additional drivers
- If there are any age restrictions on the drivers
- If there are any restrictions on how far away when something happens
- How many days continuous cover your get on each trip
- If you select an annual policy, how many trips the policy covers
- What the policy actually covers. Eg. fire, theft, vandalism, bodywork, tyres, windscreen and windows