If you have an accident and damage your hire car, then you may wish you had car hire excess cover. Car hire excess cover is an optional extra to the collision damage waiver insurance protection typically supplied as standard by car hire companies.
If you don’t have excess car insurance, this would mean that if the car were damaged then you would be responsible for the repair costs up to the value of the excess. To help put this in perspective, car hire company excess charges for damage repairs will generally go directly to your credit card - and they could be as high as £1600.
Exclusions It’s not only the excess charges you may need to be careful about. A typical collision damage waiver cover will exclude certain car parts from cover. What this generally means is that if certain parts of the car are damaged which are not protected then you have to pay out for these, along with the excess costs.
The parts concerned are typically: l the windscreen and glass; l the tyres; l the under-body. Worth the risk or not? Gambling that you’ll have an incident free hire period and return the car in pristine condition may be one way of saving on those additional insurance premiums but it could turn out to be a very costly gamble if things go wrong.
Options The provision of car hire protection is not restricted to the car rental companies. You will find that there is a number of internet based insurance providers. They may usually offer a range of products for rentals in the UK, Europe and further afield.
You may be able to get additional benefits such as: l insurance protection for a number of named drivers at no extra cost; l the option for an annual policy that can be used for a number of rentals; l the inclusion of those excluded parts. Most importantly of all perhaps, is that you may find that their car hire excess insurance premiums may be most cost efficient than those of the car hire companies. Do note that your policy will be subject to policy limitations, exclusions within its terms and conditions.
If you don’t have excess car insurance, this would mean that if the car were damaged then you would be responsible for the repair costs up to the value of the excess. To help put this in perspective, car hire company excess charges for damage repairs will generally go directly to your credit card - and they could be as high as £1600.
Exclusions It’s not only the excess charges you may need to be careful about. A typical collision damage waiver cover will exclude certain car parts from cover. What this generally means is that if certain parts of the car are damaged which are not protected then you have to pay out for these, along with the excess costs.
The parts concerned are typically: l the windscreen and glass; l the tyres; l the under-body. Worth the risk or not? Gambling that you’ll have an incident free hire period and return the car in pristine condition may be one way of saving on those additional insurance premiums but it could turn out to be a very costly gamble if things go wrong.
Options The provision of car hire protection is not restricted to the car rental companies. You will find that there is a number of internet based insurance providers. They may usually offer a range of products for rentals in the UK, Europe and further afield.
You may be able to get additional benefits such as: l insurance protection for a number of named drivers at no extra cost; l the option for an annual policy that can be used for a number of rentals; l the inclusion of those excluded parts. Most importantly of all perhaps, is that you may find that their car hire excess insurance premiums may be most cost efficient than those of the car hire companies. Do note that your policy will be subject to policy limitations, exclusions within its terms and conditions.
0 comments: