Insurance can be a confusing aspect of car rental with many misconceptions found in the media as to huge credit card charges levied for a car left in perfect condition.
In this post Hire Cars will try to lay out what can be expected in terms of car hire insurance, what an excess really is and what options you have available to you when renting a car.
In car hire there are mainly three types of rental – one is less common and mostly found in Spain where the car has no excess amounts for accidental damage or theft but you pay for your fuel when you pick up the car rental. Made popular by companies such as Europa Goldcar the companies make money by charging a premium on the fuel and retaining any unspent fuel returned with the vehicle.
The second is no excess and full to full which is mainly consigned to the US, in my opinion the best place in the world to rent a vehicle.
Finally the most common is the full to full fuel policy and excess amounts on both CDW (crash damage waiver – accidental damage excess) and Theft. The amounts vary by supplier and car value but can range for 600 Euros up to 1,800 Euros. The amount is blocked on your credit card when you pick up the car with the block removed once the car is signed back in with no damage and a full tank.
There are three main options in terms of insurance and excess when renting a car with excess amounts in place.
1) You can rent the car without any additional insurance. The car is fine to drive but in case of an accident or theft expect the have charges levied against your credit card. Many people are happy to do this confident in their own driving and safety of the car.
2) You can take the local car companies additional insurance options, which for a daily charge will reduce the excess amounts of in some cases remove them all together. These are a valuable revenue stream for the car hire companies so expect to be sold them by the counter staff.
3) Third party insurers offer a daily removal of the excess amounts on a refundable basis. It is you and not the car who is insured and any excess amount removed from your credit card will have to be claimed and reimbursed by your chosen third party company. This is done on you sending in the accident report, charge details and in some cases a police report.
We at Hire Cars .ie offer refundable excess from leading third party insurer Insurance4carhire.com who are underwritten by insurance giant AIG. The option is there on step three of the booking process if you wish to avail of our outstanding daily rates for removal of the excess exposure. Our daily rates are proven to be lower than the local insurance offered by the car hire companies. They also completely remove the excess amounts when local car rental companies may only reduce the liability.
What every your choice in terms of insurance remember to take care on the roads and park in secure locations as negligence on your behalf could expose you to the full value of any loss or damage to your rental car.